Constant Motion
by DiehardJavaJunkie14
Summary: Rory's got a job, and Lorelai's starting a new relationship. They're doing it without each other for the first time. How does Lorelai deal? JavaJunkie, chapter fic.
1. Happy Face Pancakes

The throbbing headache Lorelai was experiencing was hard, but the first full day without Rory home was going to be harder. This wasn't like Yale. This was like Rory moving across the country and not knowing when she was coming home. Lorelai sat up, realizing that she'd fallen asleep on Rory's bed, and slowly walked into the kitchen. Rubbing her eyes, she was surprised to see Luke preparing her breakfast.

"Hey," he said softly.

She gave him a half hearted smile, planting a quick kiss on his cheek and taking a seat at the kitchen table. He placed a plate of chocolate chip pancakes in front of her and she looked up at him, touched. The chocolate chips were in the shape of a smiley face. "Luke," she started.

He sat down with her, placing his plate of eggs in front of him. He put his hand on hers. "It's okay."

"Thank you," she said softly, almost afraid to cut up the pancakes staring back at her. She finally cut the first pancake, putting a piece in her mouth, and looked at Luke again. "What did you do this for?" she asked.

"I figured you'd need a little push to get back on your feet. Everyone does," he said, taking a sip of orange juice.

Lorelai put down her silverware and pulled her chair in closer. "I have this really weird way of dealing with pain," she started.

"We've experienced that," Luke replied.

She looked down at the partially eaten pancake and sighed. "We have. And I just want to warn you ahead of time, that this pain is going to be really weird. I'll be fine sometimes, and other times, I'll need some support."

"I can do that," Luke reassured her.

"As of right now, I'm good. I'm dealing with the pain through constant motion. Don't stop, keep yourself busy, don't cry, because you're going to miss out on something, you know?"

Luke nodded in response. Lorelai appreciated the fact that he was being the good listener that he always had been. She needed him right at that moment.

"And at some point soon, I'll need to be alone, cry it out for awhile, I guess. Who am I, predicting my own emotions? I've always known that even I can't take my predictions to the bank on those," Lorelai scoffed, taking another bite of her pancake.

"Everyone deals with it differently," Luke reassured her. "Just let me know what to do and I'll do it."

Lorelai grinned. "Dirty," she said as the telephone rang. Her eyes widened and she sat frozen in her seat, not wanting to face the reality that Rory was working. Luke gave her a caring look, almost saying 'answer it, I'm here,' and she took a deep breath, standing up and walking to the table where the phone sat. "Hello?"

"Mom!" Rory's enthusiastic voice nearly shrieked from the other line.

"Hey, sweets, how's the big bad world?"

Rory giggled. "I haven't met any wolves in disguise yet, I'm okay."

"That's always a good thing. They're awfully sneaky, those wolves in Grandma costumes. Metaphorically and in real life."

Rory sighed. "Mom, I'll be fine. Don't worry about me, okay?"

"Impossible. Mothers give birth and they put this worrying elixir into the pain medication," Lorelai teased.

"But really, make sure you're taking care of yourself. I'm on vacation. Think of it that way," Rory explained. "And not like 'Great Aunt Gertrude took a long vacation', okay?"

Lorelai gave a soft chuckle. "You got it, kid," she replied.

"I have to get on the bus now, I'll call you tonight," Rory insisted.

Lorelai nodded, feeling a lump forming in her throat. "Okay, sweets. I'll be here."

"I miss you already. And Luke's coffee. Tell him I said that. I know he's nearby."

"You're good, kid," Lorelai said, walking to the couch. "You're too good for me."

"Well, Luke's a good guy. If he knows what's best for him, he'd be over there, that's for sure," Rory continued. "Love you."

Lorelai cleared her throat. "Back atcha, sweets." She hung up the phone and the tears began to fall. Before long, she heard Luke's footsteps coming from the kitchen and she felt an arm pull her in close. He held Lorelai close, and she was finally able to cry. She had some tears in her eyes as Rory left, sniffled on the car ride home, and fell asleep soon after she got home from bringing Rory to the airport. This was the first time she'd really cried. She sat up after awhile, wondering how long Luke had sat there comforting her.

"You going to be okay?" he asked.

She nodded. "Have I kept you from going to the diner? Oh, man, they could have pitchforks!"

Luke shook his head. "I took the day off, in case you needed me."

"Oh," she said softly, wiping her eyes. "Well I'm okay for now."

"You going to stick around here today?"

"I was thinking of going into work," Lorelai said, standing up from the couch. "Get my mind off of things for a little while. I won't stay for the whole day."

He nodded. "Whatever you need me to do, let me know."

She put her hand on his arm, rubbing it gently. She gave him a teary smile, knowing that she would have to lean on him for support, changing her way of dealing with things that were rough in life. She now had someone she could trust, someone she loved more than anything in the world, and someone who was always, always around. "Thank you," she said, leaning in and giving him a quick kiss.

"You're welcome. If you need me…"

"I know where you live. And work," she said, laughing at the last part.

He left, and Lorelai stood in the middle of the living room, willing herself to get upstairs and take a shower. She opened the cabinet and took out a towel. _Constant motion,_ she told herself._ It's the only way you're going to survive this._ She took a deep breath and hung the towel over the shower curtain rod, repeating what was going to be her mantra for the next few days.

_Constant motion._ Wouldn't be easy, but it was a start.


	2. I Think We're Alone Now

Walking into the Dragonfly, Lorelai took a quick look around to see who was on the front desk. There wasn't anyone there, so she took the responsibility, turning on the computer. She hummed to herself as she shook the mouse, impatiently waiting for the machine to start up.

The silence was getting to her. She'd spent the past few days in silence at home. Paul Anka wasn't exactly the greatest at keeping a conversation going, and Luke was monosyllabic. He was a nice relief, a break from the silence she hated so much, but he wasn't usually over the house. She had hoped that getting out to the Dragonfly for the second full day in a row would be an accomplishment, especially with how much she was missing Rory.

Her impatience was subsiding as the computer prompted her for a password. She smiled, thinking of the day she made the password for the computer. All she asked for from Rory was a character on a TV show, and the first thing she came out with was "Mr. Feeny." She sighed, trying not to cry thinking of Rory. Rory would be back soon, and in the meantime, her focus would have to be on her new relationship and her job.

"Free Cell it is, then," Lorelai muttered to herself, after checking to make sure there was nothing on her to-do list. She started clicking away when the phone rang. "Dragonfly Inn, Lorelai speaking."

"Mom!" Rory's voice said from the other end.

Lorelai smiled. "Hey, kid, I'm surprised you remembered the number, being so famous and all. Loved your first article, I'm looking for a frame for it."

"Thanks. My editor wasn't so sure, but I guess I made it work, seeing as how you're framing it."

"Hey, if you made it work, that's all that counts! Although I'm still partial to your concrete piece from Chilton," Lorelai teased.

Rory giggled. "One of my best pieces. But lately it seems like my editor isn't very happy with me."

"As long as you weren't the one that put bubble gum on the water heater pipe, you're good, you're practically Superwoman," Lorelai said with a giggle.

"What? Who put bubble gum on the water heater pipe? Does a water heater even have a pipe?"

"And you went to Yale," Lorelai teased.

Rory giggled. "I'm guessing you called Luke to fix something, and he found it."

"Yeah, he did. Wasn't thrilled about it, either, and he blamed me," Lorelai said, clicking the mouse as she spoke.

"Well, you were the only culprit anywhere near the crime scene, and without Velma's calculations, Freddy goes on instinct."

Lorelai gasped, her eyes widening as she put the phone to her other ear. "Wow, a Scooby Doo reference, how long's it been since we used one of those?"

Rory sighed. "Ages. Probably since I was ten."

"Well, it's a throwback to the good ol' days," Lorelai teased.

"Anything else eventful that I should know about?"

Lorelai straightened up, opening the book on the desk to check for reservations. "Nope, it's been so boring that I've watched the Free Cell king guy's head go back and forth with the movements of my mouse."

"He goes back and forth?" Rory asked in disbelief.

Lorelai nodded. "And I've figured since he moves, he needs a name, and I'm thinking Percy may suffice."

"Mom?"

"Yeah, sweets?"

"I really miss you," Rory said.

Lorelai sighed. "I miss you, too, kid. You have no idea. Paul Anka isn't much of a Chatty Cathy, and you know Luke."

"I'll try to call as much as I can," Rory said, trying to reassure her.

"I know you will, but of course, that doesn't teleport you here," Lorelai said, letting go of the mouse. "Let me know when you get that patent on the Super Phone."

Rory giggled. "The Super Phone was something I invented for a school project when I was eight, and it was because Dad didn't show up for Christmas that year. I don't think I really need you to teleport here, and me teleporting to Stars Hollow wouldn't do me any good either."

Lorelai tapped the heel of her shoe on the ground, leaning on the counter. "I know, sweets, you're a grownup now, and that means working to earn a living, and you're working on the campaign trail. I know that you working is best, and I've learned to let go a tiny bit. Sort of."

"Say hi to Percy for me?" she asked.

"You got it, kid."

"Bye, Mom."

Lorelai took a deep breath. "Bye, sweets," she said, putting the phone down. She went back to Free Cell, cursing herself for putting too many cards in the top left row. The door opened, startling her as she came out of her Free Cell reverie.

"Luke," she said, slightly surprised to see him.

"Hey," he said, a smile on his face.

"What are you doing here? Are you checking up on me?" she asked, crossing her arms.

Luke handed her a to go cup of coffee. "Figured you might need this," he said.

Lorelai smiled. "You are a god."

"Call me Zeus and give me a crown," Luke teased.

"Really, what brings you here?" she asked. "Not that I don't like surprise visits, but…"

"You want to talk in your office?"

Lorelai looked around. She turned back to Luke, a confused expression on her face. "There's no one here."

"But you never know," Luke started.

"I think we're alone now… doesn't seem to be anyone around…" Lorelai sang.

Luke rolled his eyes. "That song, god, I hate that song."

"You know that song?"

Luke nodded. "April's been on an 80's kick for the past few months."

"Well, my friend, some of the best music I know has come from the eighties. Minus the Flock of Seagulls," she grumbled.

"Do I want to know?"

"Not really. What did you want to talk in my office about?" she asked, sipping her coffee and waiting for Luke's answer.

He took off his baseball cap and ran his hand through his hair. "Uh, well, I wanted to know if you wanted to, uh… have dinner with me, Saturday night?"

Lorelai smiled. "I'd love to," she said softly.

"You're free?"

"Well, if I wasn't, a dead grandmother would come out of the woodwork," she teased.

Luke nodded. "All right, then. I'll see you for dinner?"

"Most likely," Lorelai said. "There's a big convention coming in tonight, the florists' convention."

"That's why my eyes are going berserk," Luke said.

Lorelai smiled. "Sorry. See you later?"

"Yeah, I'll see you later," he said, walking out the front door.

After standing and watching Luke walk out the door, Lorelai realized the busy day she had ahead of her. She went behind the desk and clicked out of her Free Cell game, pulling up the reservations list on the computer.

By the time the day was done, Lorelai had had just about enough. She experienced a day full of people asking her to smell their flower bouquets, lectures about how her plants in the lobby weren't properly cared for, and allergies that caused a run to Doose's for anti histamine. She finally got home, grabbing the telephone to call Rory and tell her the good news.

Quickly dialing the number and taking off her shoes as she walked, Lorelai listened to the phone switch over to Rory's voicemail.

"You've reached Rory Gilmore. I'm not in right now, please leave me a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks."

Lorelai rolled her eyes. After she heard the beep, she took a deep breath and began ranting. "So, I missed you today, a lot, and I know you probably won't get this message until late, but whatever. Better late than never is a good phrase for a reason. Anyway, I had something I wanted to tell you, but telling you through your voicemail isn't really a good idea. Telling you when you can react and have a say in the situation is the good idea. I would give you a hint, but like when I got you that Skip it you wanted for Christmas, you would guess it. So I'm not bothering. So, call me whenever, I'm here. Or at Luke's. But you know I'll have my phone on me. Unless I accidentally leave it somewhere. How long is this message? Does a cell phone cut you off? Anyway, call me. Bye."

She tossed the phone on the couch and patted Paul Anka on the head, sitting on the floor next to him. She stroked his fur and looked around at the empty house. The silence wasn't the same as it was when Rory went to Yale. It was always known that Rory could make an appearance any time when she was at Yale. But now, Rory was across the country. And Lorelai hated the emptiness.

"I think we're alone now," she sang to Paul Anka in a sad tone. "Doesn't seem to be anyone around," she continued, her breath hitching in her throat. Why was she being such a baby about this? Rory was fine.

Grabbing her purse, she walked to Luke's.


	3. Coffee Tease

**A/N: This chapter is dedicated to Reggie (the apple tease) and Stella (the person who wanted one just like I did). Enjoy! **

Walking into Luke's, Lorelai looked around. It was a little busy, and she wasn't expecting to be served right away. She took a seat by the window and put her purse down next to her. She then picked it up again, fishing through it to make sure her cell phone was on. It was.

Letting out a sigh, she tossed the phone back into her purse and put her chin in her right hand. Her left hand reached for her long ponytail and she tugged at it absent mindedly. She glanced at Luke, who was directing Zach to bring meals to certain tables.

She leaned down and grabbed her purse again, opening the phone to check if she had missed a call. She hadn't. She groaned and threw the phone in the purse again, a little more violently this time, and dropped her purse on the ground. Then she realized that she would be better able to check the phone if she had it right next to her. Reaching in the purse again, keeping her eyes on Luke, she felt around for the phone. She had no such luck.

"What, is my purse suddenly a black hole?" she muttered, pulling the purse onto her lap and moving things around to finally locate her cell phone. Lorelai pulled the phone out of her purse and placed it next to her. She caught sight of Luke again, and decided that looking at Luke and having her hand on the cell phone at the same time would accomplish two things at once. After all, she needed to be fed and she needed to make sure that she wouldn't miss Rory's call.

"Afraid someone's going to steal your phone?" Luke asked, walking up to her table.

She shook her head. "I missed Rory's call this morning while I was in the shower, and I'm determined not to miss another. I called her last night to tell her about… Saturday, and she called me back this morning, and at this point she still doesn't know."

"She understands, I'm sure she'll miss calls of yours, too," Luke said, trying to comfort Lorelai.

Lorelai flashed him her 'I'm okay' smile and took a deep breath. "You're right. I'll take pancakes with extra syrup and coffee. You might as well have a swimming pool out back and a slide so I can slide down and jump into the coffee and swim in it."

"Coffee and pancakes, coming right up," Luke said, ignoring Lorelai's proposition.

She grumbled at herself, saying nothing in particular, but fragments of sentences were making their way out of her mouth. Before long, she realized that it was Friday. That meant Friday night dinner. Her head hit the table as she groaned again. This wasn't looking like a good day at all. It had been just less than a week since Rory had left, and already Lorelai was lost without her.

"You sure you're okay?" Luke asked, pouring Lorelai a cup of coffee.

"I have to go to Friday Night Dinner tonight. And I know my parents saw us… outside the diner. Because when we got back to the party, she gave me this 'raising her eyebrows' look, and from experience, I know that look doesn't bring good things," she ranted, waving her arms. "And I know I'm going to be grilled on it tonight at dinner. Might as well pick out the fixings now, figure out if you want a medium well or well done Lorelai."

Luke put his hand on her shoulder. "They want you to be happy, right?"

She nodded. "Yeah, with a man who will take the rare coin guy's number."

"I think you'll be fine. Just be up front with them and see what they say," Luke suggested.

"Being honest with my parents? The truth hurts sometimes, Luke," Lorelai warned.

Luke sighed. "I'm sure they'd appreciate you telling them the truth, and at the beginning of this relationship, so they don't feel left out."

Lorelai took a deep breath. "Okay, I'll do it. But only to save you pain, and you owe me," she said, pointing at Luke.

"Of course," Luke consented, taking the coffee pot back behind the counter. "You want me to come with you? I'll even go with you, as long as this thing with your parents and us works out. If that's what it takes, even though I'd rather eat pizza with extra cheese and cheesy bread."

She shook her head. "I'll shield you as long as possible, thanks."

He nodded. "Let me know if you need anything."

As Luke walked away, Lorelai's cell phone rang. Not wanting to risk an argument with Luke, she grabbed it quickly and ducked out the door. "Hello?"

"Hey, rambly message lady," Rory teased from the other line.

Lorelai smiled. "Hey, illusive invisible girl I leave rambly messages for!"

"What did you want to tell me?" Rory asked.

"Well, when I called you last night, I wanted to call and tell you that Luke and I are… going out on tomorrow night," Lorelai explained.

"Mom, that's great!"

Lorelai nodded. "Except then, after I hung up the phone and thought about it, I don't know what to wear and you're not here to help me!"

"This doesn't have to be a catastrophic thing, Mom, we can do it over the phone," Rory said, trying to calm Lorelai down.

"And when the first snow falls, you won't be here. And when it's your birthday, you won't be here. And New Year's, and Arbor Day, and the end of the summer festival Stars Hollow has! You won't be here," Lorelai said, lowering her voice a little in disappointment.

Rory sighed. "Kinda sucks, doesn't it?"

"It really does. But as long as you're happy, kid, that's all I want for you."

"I miss you. Trust me, I won't be able to stay away for too long. I miss you, I miss the town, I miss Luke's coffee," Rory rambled.

"The coffee's really good today. Like super good. It's what gives ME wings. Red Bull is no match for Luke's coffee."

Rory groaned. "You are such a coffee tease. The coffee I've had here is some of the crappiest I've had, ever in my life."

"Worse than that coffee we had in the break room of Grandpa's office that one time?" Lorelai gasped.

"Far, far worse," Rory insisted.

"I can smell Luke's coffee from here, I'm just outside now. Mmm. It's so tasty and full of caffeine and that secret ingredient… oh, Rory, it's to die for."

"This conversation is not only making me want coffee very badly, but it is taking a rather disturbing turn."

"What, that I'm talking about coffee in such a manner, that makes it dirty?" Lorelai giggled. "You must not be my daughter, why don't you come home and prove you are my loin fruit?"

Rory sighed. "Mom. Seriously. I love Luke's coffee too much to disgrace its name in this way. I had coffee at a rest stop, and I think I drank maybe a third of it before I threw it out. And the third was just to keep up with the level of caffeine I need to function."

"Sorry, sweets."

"It's okay. Anything else new going on in Stars Hollow?" Rory asked.

"Kirk got a henna tattoo to see if he really wanted a real one," Lorelai said.

"He what? What could he possibly… oh, no, don't tell me… the heart with the 'Mom' in it?"

Lorelai giggled. "Yes! Although I don't think he's falling in love with the idea, after he realized that tattoos actually press the needles into your skin instead of magic marker or something."

"So naïve," Rory sighed.

"So Kirk," Lorelai supplied.

"Okay, coffee tease, good luck with the dinner tonight."

"Think you can work something out and call me? Pretend to be someone at the inn with a really angry customer?" Lorelai asked.

Rory giggled. "Sorry, Mom, no can do."

"Fine. I'll just have some more coffee then. Hot coffee, and I'm going to drink the whole mug, too!" Lorelai shot back sarcastically.

Rory whimpered. "You are the meanest coffee tease! I have to go drink crappy coffee now."

"Bye, sweets," Lorelai said, closing the phone. She thought about going back inside, but she suddenly had an idea. Dialing a familiar number, her heart started to beat a little faster. She almost hung up until she heard an unfamiliar voice on the other end.

"Gilmore residence," the woman said.

"Hi, may I speak to Emily? This is her daughter Lorelai."

"Just a moment please."

The woman who Lorelai assumed was the new maid placed the phone down and Lorelai waited for her mother to come on the line. She held her hand to her forehead, wondering what she was going to get herself into. She could hang up, but that would put the poor maid in the unemployment office.

"Hello, Lorelai," Emily said, startling Lorelai.

"Uh, hi, Mom, do you have a second?"

"If I had only a second this conversation would rather short," Emily replied.

Lorelai rolled her eyes, pacing outside the diner. "Look, uh, it's a figure of speech… okay. Anyway, uh, would it be too late to add a fourth person for dinner tonight? I completely understand if it's too short notice…"

"Who on earth would you bring to dinner? That disgusting dog of yours is not setting foot in this house," Emily started.

"No, Mom, I wasn't going to bring Paul Anka, he hates silverware," she explained. "I was going to ask if it would be too late to bring Luke."

"Luke?" Emily asked, sounding surprised, but slightly pleased at the same time.

Lorelai nodded. "Yes, Mom, Luke. I just… Luke and I are kind of getting back on track, and I wanted to… make an effort, involve you in my, uh, life," she said, forcing herself to believe it as she said it.

"Well, I suppose it wouldn't be too much trouble. As a matter of fact, your father was going to have one of his co workers for dinner, as we presumed you wouldn't come tonight, so we had to alter the plans anyway."

"I won't come if you don't want me to," Lorelai added quickly. "That was rude of me to invite myself, and Luke. I'll talk to you about it next week."

"Nonsense, Lorelai, it was just a miscommunication. I'm sure Frances can whip up an extra meal, and if not she's incompetent anyway," Emily started. "Trial by fire. So we'll see you tonight?"

Lorelai shook her head, wishing Rory was there to help her get out of the mess she'd made. "See you tonight," she said, closing the phone, pacing back and forth in front of the diner, talking to herself.

"You okay?" Luke asked.

She sighed. "I changed my mind. Is your offer still good?"

"Of course," Luke said, putting his hand on her arm.

"It's just… this is my first dinner without Rory in a long time, and I… I'm acting really stupid."

Luke shook his head. "You haven't dyed your hair a color you'd find in the Crayola box, you haven't changed your name, and you haven't run off to Vegas to get married by the Elvis minister. Your level of stupidity is rather low considering how some people deal with this stuff.

She looked up at him. "You think?"

He nodded. "Your coffee's getting cold," he said, ushering her back toward the door.

"Hey, Luke?"

"Yeah?"

She smiled. "I promise I'll be back to normal soon."

Luke opened the door for her. "If you ever became normal, I'd be concerned," he said.


	4. Won't Back Down

"Luke, are you sure you want to do this?" Lorelai asked, straightening Luke's tie. The two stood on the front porch of the Gilmore mansion, contemplating ringing the doorbell.

He nodded. "I told you I'd come to dinner. I'm not backing down."

Lorelai linked her arm in his. "Very Tom Petty of you," she mused, reaching over to ring the doorbell.

"But if your mother uses the word 'rustic' at dinner, I'm going to be ranting all the way home," he insisted.

"If you rant, will that vein pop out? I think that's a very sexy quality on your part."

Luke looked at Lorelai pointedly. "Don't get any ideas," he muttered.

She smiled as the maid opened the door and took their coats. It was nice to know that Luke wasn't going anywhere, and it was nice to know that there would be someone to take Rory's role as the 'buffer' at Friday night dinner. She brushed a curl out of her face as she walked into the dining room.

"Hi Mom, Dad," Lorelai said, walking into the living room.

"Lorelai, you look lovely tonight," Richard said, standing up to greet his daughter.

"Thanks, Dad," Lorelai said. "You both remember Luke, don't you?"

Emily smiled. "How could we forget? It's wonderful to see you again, Luke."

Luke nodded and cleared his throat. "It's nice to see you again as well," he replied.

Lorelai looked at Luke apologetically. He returned the look with one of confusion, and Lorelai sighed, taking a seat on the couch across from Emily. So far things were going well, but Emily seemed too nice. It was all too good to be true.

"Would you like your usual drink, Lorelai?" Emily asked, walking over to the cart.

"Yes, please," she said, looking at Luke.

"And Luke, would you like a beer?"

"That would be lovely, Emily, thank you," Luke replied, giving Lorelai another look of confusion.

Emily handed each of them their drinks and returned to her seat. She folded her hands and looked at Luke. "So, Luke, how is your diner?"

"It's been doing well. I had to make some repairs to it after a freak accident, but other than that things seem to be going well."

"Well, that's terrible! What on earth happened, was anyone hurt?" Emily asked.

"Kirk ran into it with a car," Lorelai supplied, downing her drink rather quickly. "No injuries."

"I hope you had the place properly insured," Richard added.

Luke nodded. "It's all been taken care of and the diner's back in business."

Emily smiled and nodded. "That's good news. How is your daughter doing?"

Lorelai raised her eyebrows. "Mom, you're going right to the interrogation for Luke, aren't you? Might as well turn off the lights and get a creepy lamp to hang above us, make it a little more authentic?"

"Lorelai, honestly, I'm trying to have a civil conversation with the man you've brought to dinner. Would you prefer I 'interrogate' you?"

"No, Mom, I'm just saying, you're drilling him," Lorelai replied.

"It's not like they're difficult questions to answer, Lorelai," Emily scoffed.

"Yes, but as you go, the questions are going to get harder and harder, thereby flustering Luke on his first night back at the Gilmores," Lorelai explained.

Luke turned to Lorelai. "I'm fine," he said.

"Suit yourself," she muttered sarcastically.

"April is doing well," Luke replied. "She's actually attending Science camp this summer, it's a pretty prestigious offer, from what I understand."

"That certainly does sound impressive," Emily agreed.

Richard nodded. "Those opportunities are wonderful for young girls her age."

Luke smiled. "She's a good kid, I'm proud of her."

"Well, that's wonderful. Lorelai, how is the inn coming? Have you given any more thought to the idea of a spa?"

Lorelai took the last sip of her drink. "I've talked it over with Sookie, and we've decided to hold off on that for just a little while, until after her new baby comes and she's able to come back to work. But rest assured that the idea's merely 'on hold', 'on hiatus', you get the gist of it," she replied.

"I can understand that, it's rather prudent of you to consult your business partner in regards to the addition," Emily said.

"How is Rory doing?" Richard asked. "She called us the other day, and we were thrilled to hear from her."

"She's doing great, Dad, she seems pretty excited about the whole thing," Lorelai explained. "She's gotten a few articles published already."

"Ah, yes, I've been bookmarking them to send to some co-workers. It's always good to have bragging rights," Richard chuckled.

The questioning stopped when the maid announced that dinner was to be served. Emily and Richard stood up and walked to the dining room, but Lorelai hung back, pulling Luke by the arm.

"What?" Luke hissed. "You've been giving me looks all night long, you've been trying to defend me… what's the problem?"

Lorelai sighed, crossing her arms. She wasn't sure how to respond, because she knew that Luke would have some sort of answer for her, or he'd think she was just plain crazy. She rolled her eyes. What else was new? "Have you noticed that my mother's being… way too nice?"

"Is there such a thing? She seems to be very courteous to me," Luke replied.

Lorelai shook her head. "No, she's got an agenda, a hidden agenda. It's harder to figure out than a rubix cube after it's all been jumbled up!"

"You're comparing your mother to a rubix cube?"

She uncrossed her arms, throwing her hands in the air. "Well, I was going to use a treasure map analogy, maybe a pirate joke, but this isn't the time."

"She's not being rude, Lorelai, she's trying to accept me, which I am rather grateful for," Luke insisted. "Now can we please have dinner in peace without you second guessing everything your mother does?"

Lorelai pouted. "Fine, but if they say one mean word to you…"

"I won't back down, I'll defend myself," Luke insisted.

"You are a secret Tom Petty fan, aren't you?"

"Can we eat now, please?" Luke begged.

Lorelai nodded and walked into the dining room, seating herself at her usual spot. The maid entered carrying a very small portion of chicken, and Lorelai poked it with her fork. "The dinner looks… delicious, Mom."

"Why thank you, Lorelai, we're trying to be more prudent with our food choices due to your father's restrictions," Emily replied.

"If by prudent you mean starving, then you're doing an excellent job," Lorelai muttered.

"It smells wonderful," Luke said.

Lorelai watched, picking at her chicken, as Luke politely joined in on the conversation with Richard and Emily. He wasn't trying to impress them, he was just being himself, and somehow, it was going over quite well. Lorelai's mind quickly shifted to Rory, and how pleased she would be to hear the happenings of the dinner. Taking the last bite of her chicken, Lorelai promised herself not to wallow about Rory, but to try and fathom the treatment Luke was receiving instead. As the maid cleared the plates, Lorelai sighed.

Maybe it was time to admit to herself that Emily and Richard weren't trying to scare Luke off. She thought back to Luke's suggestion about letting Emily into her life, and realized how good of a suggestion it was. While she still felt that some of the comments and questions were rather unnecessary, it was, in Lorelai's mind, a shocking improvement.

The cheesecake was served for dessert and Lorelai quickly devoured it. "Great cheesecake," Lorelai said, scraping the plate to catch the residue the cake left.

"It's sugar free cheesecake. We hired a nutrition consultant who got the recipe from a sugar free bakery in Hartford," Emily replied.

Lorelai sighed. "Sugar free? You had me fooled," she said, moping slightly.

"Well, it was a pleasure to see you again, Richard, Emily. I think we should get going," Luke said, standing up from the table.

"Thank you both for coming. We look forward to seeing you both next week," Emily replied.

Lorelai stood at the entryway to the dining room, her mouth gaping at what she'd just heard. Emily had just roped Luke into another Friday night dinner. She had to come up with an excuse for him, and fast. "Uh, Mom, I don't think…"

Luke took Lorelai's hand and gave Richard and Emily a smile. "We'll see you next Friday," he said, taking his coat and walking out the door.

Lorelai put on her coat and followed Luke back to the truck. "Are you seriously coming next week? Does a sick family member have to come out of the woodwork? Business trip? Bird flu?"

"I told you, Lorelai, I'm going to help you out, okay? And if me coming to Friday night dinner takes some pressure off of you and helps you keep your mind off of Rory, I'm all for it," he replied.

She smiled. "You really aren't backing down," she said softly.

He leaned in and kissed her. "I know how much stress these dinners can be and how much Rory's presence made you have a different view of your parents. I'm just trying to help."

"Thanks," Lorelai said, walking around the truck to the passenger's side. She pulled her cell phone out of her purse and pressed the number 2 on speed dial, only to hear Rory's voicemail message. Placing the phone back in her purse, she turned and looked out the window at the trees passing by.


	5. Fresh Start

Opening the closet and trying to weed through her date-worthy clothing, Lorelai suddenly realized why it was taking so long to get ready. Rory usually helped her with her ideas. Not really telling her what to wear, but by being the person to bounce ideas off of. Lorelai could always go from there.

Almost on cue, Lorelai's cell phone rang. She reached across the pile of clothing to locate the cell phone and opened it. "Rory?"

"Hey, Mom. You answered that phone awfully fast."

"Is it a crime to miss your own daughter? If it is, put me in jail."

Rory giggled. "Mom, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, sweets, why?"

"I'm just making sure you're getting out, you know? Having a life? I don't want you to be sitting at home all day watching Jerry Springer," Rory teased.

Lorelai giggled. "I go to work, go to Luke's, and then I come home and watch Celebreality. Seriously, I doubt half of the girls on 'Rock of Love' knew who Bret Michaels was until they walked on set. They do not know the wonder of 'Every Rose Has its Thorn', do they?"

"You watch that stuff? Mom, do I need to come home and make sure I don't turn on the TV one night to see you yelling 'Flava Flav!'?"

"No, sweets, I'm fine. Luke and I are going out on our third first date tonight," Lorelai said.

"Aww, that's so nice, where's he taking you?" Rory asked.

Lorelai shrugged, dropping a pink sweater on the floor. "I have no idea. And I'm trying to find that pretty blue sweater you bought me, you know, the one that you say makes me look like a snowflake?"

Rory giggled. "You really want to look like a snowflake on your third first date with Luke?"

"I want to look pretty. Snowflakes are pretty," Lorelai reasoned.

"Okay, mom, let's try this again. You want to look… beauty queen pretty without the ruffles. How about 'knock 'em dead' pretty?"

Lorelai nodded. "With a dash of 'you tease'?"

"That's your prerogative, I'm just here to help," Rory laughed.

"Okay, white halter with black pants and my polka dot headband. Make him decide whether I'm an angel or a devil."

Rory gasped. "You're terrible!"

"Sometimes I have to be. How's work?"

Rory sighed. "Somebody at work wants to take my spot. Reminds me of Paris."

"Well, at least this time you know how to deal with it," Lorelai said, grabbing the outfit she had planned and leaving the rest to wrinkle on the bed.

"You're talking to me when you're getting ready for a date with Luke?" Rory asked.

Lorelai smiled. "Uh, yeah."

"What time is he supposed to pick you up?"

"Seven," Lorelai shrugged.

"Mom, that's in three minutes!" Rory pointed out.

Lorelai giggled. "Rory, he's been so well trained that he knows not to show up until at least 7:30."

"Good point. You do have him trained better than Paul Anka," Rory teased.

Lorelai gasped, pulling out a pair of black heels from her closet. "You're terrible to Mommy, the woman to gave you life!"

"Hey, look, sorry to be such a phone tease, but I've gotta go. I have a town hall meeting to cover. Have fun on your date," Rory said.

Lorelai smiled. "Well, jeez, perfect time to exit."

"Tell Luke hi for me, tell him the coffee here sucks."

"I will, sweets. Talk to you tomorrow?"

"You bet," Rory said, hanging up the phone.

Lorelai brushed her hair and tied her scarf-headband combo underneath. She applied her makeup, got dressed, and was ready just in time for Luke when he rang the doorbell. Running down the stairs, she checked her hair in the mirror one more time.

"Hi," she said, opening the door.

"Hey," Luke said. "You look nice."

She smiled, grabbing her purse from the end table and shutting the door. "Thank you. You don't look so bad yourself."

"Good to know," Luke said, opening the door to the truck.

Lorelai stepped in and smiled. "We really do get better at these things the third time around."

"We just need some practice runs first," Luke teased.

He started the truck and there was a slightly awkward pause in the conversation. He pulled out onto the main road and drove for just a few minutes until Lorelai started wondering where they were going.

"Where are we going?" she blurted out.

"I can't believe it took you this long to ask," Luke said.

"I had a Roddick-Federer battle in my mind, and obviously Federer won," she teased.

"Tennis references?" Luke asked.

Lorelai nodded. "I thought I'd expand my repertoire. May need those someday."

Luke chuckled. "We're almost there."

"I had a feeling we'd be going to Sniffy's!" Lorelai said, clapping. "We get to see Buddy and Maisy…"

"We're not going to Sniffy's," Luke insisted.

Lorelai looked down at her shoes, feeling her cheeks turning pink. "Oh, uh… oops."

"It's okay. I happen to know you'll like this place," Luke said, pulling down a familiar road.

She looked up and out the window to see the Dragonfly Inn to her right. Lorelai looked to Luke, who had pulled into the driveway, and was now walking over to her side of the truck. He was taking her to the inn? "You're taking me to the inn?"

He smiled. "Why not get a fresh start? From where we first started?"

Taking Luke's hand, Lorelai leaned in close and kissed his cheek. "Or you just wanted to have a room in case you thought you'd get lucky," she whispered.

"Lorelai!" Luke hissed, embarrassed.

"What, no one could hear us," she protested.

Luke opened the door to the inn and Michel grumbled in French as he took them to their table. Lorelai couldn't help but giggle as the waiter brought them their menus and walked away. She put the menu down and smiled at Luke. He didn't notice until he looked up.

"Why are you smiling?" he asked.

"Because I already know what I want to order. And I'm just thinking about how sweet this is."

"Well, I'm glad you're having a good time," Luke replied, reaching for her hand.

Lorelai nodded, moving the menu to the side. "You know, I thought that this date was going to be really awkward?"

Luke raised his eyebrows. "You're babbling, you know that?"

"Well, I was just afraid, you know, that we'd be fighting, or that we'd have this 'how fast should we go here' conversation. And I just… I wanted to add as much conversation in there as possible but here I am, babbling on and on about stupid things," Lorelai replied.

He looked at her with a soft smile. "Don't worry about it. Everything's going to be okay. Things will progress at their own rate."

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "That's what happened last time, do we really want that again?"

Luke sighed. "Okay, I didn't want to have to do this tonight, but to get it off your mind, I will. I want us to enjoy our first date without the stigma of the last argument attached. I screwed up, and I'm sorry. I have about a hundred ways I could have handled the situation differently. I wasn't very nice to you, and I don't know what else to say but I care about you and I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry, too. I didn't mean for the first date to be like this either, it just slipped out. I guess now that I have you back, and Rory's gone, I needed something to hold onto. I don't want to get all 'Good Luck Chuck' on you, jumping out in a penguin suit singing Beyonce," she rambled.

"What?" Luke asked with a smile.

"Forget it. All I want you to know is that I'm sorry."

Luke smiled. "Things will go the way they're meant to go. I say we just enjoy the ride this time."

"Okay, Plato, I think that's a great idea," Lorelai said, raising her champagne glass. "To a fresh start."

He nodded and raised his glass. "Hear, hear," he replied, taking the smallest sip of champagne.


	6. Can You Hear Me Now?

Lorelai sat at the counter in the diner, sipping her coffee and thinking about the night before. She and Luke had talked, a lot. They'd had a real heart-to-heart, and she'd voiced her concerns about how their relationship was going to go. She smiled at the thought of waking up tangled in the sheets of one of the Dragonfly's beds, and sneaking out before anyone would notice her. It was one of those nights she'd always remember.

Her thoughts shifted from the amazing night she had to the inn's functions. There was an Oreo enthusiast convention coming, and she knew it was on the 15th, but what day was the 15th? She couldn't remember. Thinking about the convention, her mind kept wandering to the date the night before, waking up in the morning, and the feeling of happiness she had surrounding both. She smiled, realizing she was staring off into space, and snapped back to reality. What day was that convention, anyway?

"Hey Luke?" she asked, getting up from the stool at the counter.

"Yeah?" he replied, wiping his hands on a dishtowel.

She smiled. "Can I go look at your calendar upstairs? I'm thinking about a convention date, and it's bugging me, I want to check what day of the week it is."

"You're not at work, why are you thinking about work?"

Lorelai shrugged. "I'll stop stressing about it as soon as I check the day of the week."

Luke waved his hand as if to instruct her to go upstairs and check. She walked upstairs and opened the door to his apartment. After finding the calendar she begged him to hang on the wall, flipped the calendar up to August.

"Wow, August is in a week," Lorelai said to no one in particular as she scanned the calendar. Written in black Sharpie for the first week in August was "April". Lorelai gasped. She'd totally forgotten all about April's visit… how could she have forgotten?

She down sat at Luke's table, thinking about how out of the loop she was. April was coming in a week! Lorelai shook her head, wondering how in the world she didn't remember that April was going to visit. It occurred to her that April's visit was rarely mentioned since Rory left. She recalled a conversation about Science Camp, but that was it.

Lorelai rubbed her temples, trying to get her thoughts straight. They couldn't start this again. They couldn't work as a couple without some sort of communication! Why didn't he mention April's visit? She groaned and started to walk down the stairs as Luke came up the stairs.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"What do you think?"

Luke stood on the stairs by the apartment, a confused expression on his face. "I don't really know, that's the reason I asked… you," he said tentatively.

"You didn't tell me about April's visit," Lorelai said as calmly as possible, biting her tongue and shoving her hands in the pockets of her jeans.

Nodding, Luke continued up the stairs and into the apartment, closing the door. "I can explain," Luke started.

Lorelai shrugged. "What is there to explain, Luke?"

"I just… I… what's with the questions?"

She nodded. "We need to start communicating," she said, a little too calmly.

"I am, I just… I am communicating. I've mentioned April a few times, but…"

"You're not communicating if the calendar's the one to inform me of April's impending visit! What, was I supposed to wait until she showed up, be surprised?"

Luke put the towel he was holding down on the kitchen counter and threw his hands in the air. "What am I supposed to say to you? Lorelai, you aren't even giving me a chance to explain!"

"Oh, now it's all about me, huh? Fine. You know what, we'll talk about this later, all right?" she insisted, storming out of the diner and whipping her cell phone out of her pocket. Pressing and holding the number 2, she put the phone to her ear and silently willed Rory to pick up.

"Rory Gilmore," Rory answered.

"Hey, kiddo, got a minute?"

Rory giggled. "For you? Two whole minutes."

Lorelai continued to walk as far away from the diner as possible. "Well, gee, thanks, kid, it's good to know that you remember Mommy Dearest."

"Are you okay? You sound upset," Rory noted.

"Okay, I want to tell you about what happened, and I want you to remain objective," Lorelai insisted.

"Are you sure? Last time you wanted me to remain objective you gave me the cold shoulder for about an hour and a half after I said you lost the argument on CSI."

Lorelai groaned. "I'm over that. Please? Mommy needs you right now."

"Fine," Rory sighed. "What's up?"

"Okay, so I go to look at the calendar in Luke's apartment, reason illogical, and then I saw in big black letters, underlined three times, the word 'April'."

"Mom, that's Luke's daughter," Rory teased.

Lorelai rolled her eyes as she walked up the driveway to the house and opened the door. "I'm aware. But he didn't tell me she was visiting. That's the point I'm trying to make with the mention of her on the calendar."

"Oh," Rory said, enlightened.

"I'm just upset he didn't tell me!" Lorelai continued. "I would have been really excited to know that April was coming over, you know?"

"I understand."

"You're not siding with me on this one, are you?" Lorelai groaned.

Rory sighed. "I think it's a misunderstanding. I think you two need to talk about it. You should do it later tonight, because you're both so frustrated right now. I'm sure he has a reason. Just take the day for yourself and go back later tonight."

"God, Rory, why does this communication thing have to be so hard?"

"You're both a little hard headed. You're both the ones who like to be right, all the time. It will work out," Rory insisted. "I hate to give you advice and not be able to chat, but I have an article due in about an hour.

Lorelai smiled. She hadn't bothered to ask Rory how she was doing before she ranted to her. "How's that going?"

"It's going well. It's stressful, but I like it," Rory said.

"Well, good. Get to that article, missy," Lorelai ordered in a teasing tone.

Rory giggled. "Yes ma'am."

"Talk to you later?"

"Yes, I want to know exactly how this goes," Rory insisted.

"It's a date," Lorelai said, closing her phone. She walked upstairs, collapsing on her bed. Staring at the ceiling, she sighed. Why did she have to be so stubborn when it came to Luke? After all she'd been through, she just needed things to start going well. Especially for her sanity while Rory was gone. Why did she pick a fight with Luke over April?

She knew why. She just didn't want to think about it. Fighting back tears, she sat up, pulling the covers over her and curling up in her bed. And the thoughts she'd been avoiding bringing back came into her head. Luke cared about April, but he was too afraid to share her the first time. Lorelai hated that. She secretly wondered what she did to cause that for a little while. She shut her eyes, forcing herself to forget about it.

Lorelai woke up about four hours later, bleary eyed and emotionally drained. She groaned when she realized she hadn't even bothered to take off her jeans and change into pajamas. Rolling out of bed, changing her jeans, and trying to make herself look presentable, she thought about what she'd say to Luke.

She knew that she was going to have to be the one to start the conversation. She was the one that messed with the good thing they had going. She brushed her hair back to a ponytail and touched up her makeup before leaving the house.

Ignoring the 'closed' sign upon arrival at Luke's, she walked in the diner and sat at the counter, reaching for a piece of pie and serving herself.

Luke came downstairs and didn't say a word, just stood behind the counter, handing her a fork. She smiled.

"Luke, I think you and I need to have a talk," Lorelai said, breaking the silence.

"I think that's a good idea," Luke said, spraying some whipped cream on the top of the slice of pie Lorelai had grabbed.

She put her fork down. "Why didn't you mention April to me? I know now that the reason wasn't anything against me, now that I'm less upset. What happened?"

Luke put his hand on hers. "I didn't want to rub the fact that I was having my daughter over when yours was hundreds of miles away."

Lorelai looked at the piece of pie. "I haven't exactly remembered that you know how I feel."

"No, you have. That's why I was going to gently ease the idea into a conversation a few times, you know, just to avoid making you upset. I know how you're feeling,"

She looked up at him. She felt terrible. He was doing so much for her while Rory was gone, but he was in the same position himself. Letting out a deep sigh, she gave him a small smile. "Why don't we just say this stuff?"

"I have no idea," Luke replied.

"Can we try? I want to aim for 'can you hear me now? Good,' type of communication. I want it to be that easy, that good."

Luke nodded. "We can try. Doesn't mean it will work all the time, but we can try."

"Truce?"

"Truce," Luke repeated. "April is coming next week."

Lorelai nodded. "What are you guys going to do?"

"What, you're not included in that?"

She looked at the pie again, resting her fork on the crust. "Uh, well, only if you guys…"

"We do," Luke added.

Lorelai smiled. "Thank you," she said, digging her fork into the pie.


	7. I Don't Dance

"People, people, this town has not had a Fall Ball in years. This is the perfectly normal time to have it," Taylor said, banging the gavel on the podium.

"It's not even September yet," Andrew protested. "It's just the beginning of August!"

Lorelai held out the bag of Smartfood to April. "Welcome back, kid," she whispered.

April giggled. "Feels like I never left," she replied, grabbing a handful and putting a piece in her mouth.

"Global warming has definitely thrown off nature's schedule, but the Fall Ball will be much more pleasant outside, with wonderful Autumn decorations, cider, and beautiful Autumn colors," Taylor insisted. "Especially in the 'tail end of summer' weather."

"But Taylor, why do you have this rule about 'fall colors'?" Kirk asked. "I don't own anything orange."

Babette rolled her eyes. "You have that orange sweater, the one that Bootsie got you for Secret Santa three years ago."

April turned to Luke. "They keep track of who got what presents and when?"

Luke sighed. "They have nothing better to do."

April giggled, reaching into the Smartfood bag for some more popcorn.

"I never said anything about the colors being a rule, but more of a dress code, a guideline. Gentlemen can wear a tie of that color, ladies may wear a simple skirt with an autumn color in it. It's not a difficult concept to grasp, people!"

"I think the Fall Ball's a great idea," Zach added. "It rhymes, which is totally cool in my book."

Taylor nodded in approval of Zach's statement. "Someone else is in agreement on the appeal of a name that rhymes."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Taylor, we don't care if it rhymes or if it doesn't rhyme, we just want to know when it is so we can all get dragged there by someone."

April giggled, leaning toward Lorelai. "I'm guessing he's referring to you."

"You catch on quick, kid," Lorelai said with a wink.

Taylor crossed his arms. "The ball is this Saturday, and I hope the majority of you will attend willingly. Meeting adjourned."

Lorelai rolled the bag of popcorn and placed it in her purse. She looked to Luke and April. "So, what do you two have planned for tonight?"

April smiled. "Dad was going to make dinner and we were going to watch the baseball game. I like to try and calculate speeds and averages and stuff while he watches."

Lorelai nodded. "That sounds like fun. Just don't give the other team an edge, or your Dad will disown you."

"I never liked the Yankees, anyway, I think I'll be fine," April replied, putting her hands in her pockets.

Luke took Lorelai's hand as they walked out of Miss Patty's. It was a subtle gesture, but it sent chills down Lorelai's spine. He held her hand. In public. Was he feeling okay? She looked at him and smiled. "Well, you two make sure the cops don't bust your raid, all right?"

"Would you like to join us? We aren't doing anything that you can't have fun with, too. You may enjoy the uniforms, possibly the tightness of the pants that the players wear," Luke teased.

She stopped short for a second before taking a quick step to catch up with Luke and April. "You're inviting me over?"

"Yeah, Lorelai, it would be fun!" April insisted.

Lorelai smiled. "I'd love to," she said, wrapping her arm around Luke's waist as they approached the diner.

To Lorelai, eating junk food and watching men in tight pants could be done any night. But watching the game with Luke and April meant so much to her. Sitting on the couch, watching April scribble facts and figures down in her notebook, and looking over to Luke, totally engrossed in the game, somehow made her feel like she was a part of the Luke and April relationship.

It finally felt right. And it made Lorelai break out in a grin until she realized that it really wouldn't be completely right without Rory. She pushed the thought out of her head until her cell phone vibrated in her pocket. Pulling out the phone to see "Rory" on the caller ID screen, she quickly jumped off the couch and walked toward the door of Luke's apartment.

"Hello? Daughter of mine?" she asked, excitement in her voice.

"Hey, Mom! How are you?"

Lorelai smiled. "I'm good, and you?"

"What happened? You're awfully perky!"

"I don't know, I just… Rory, everything seems to be fitting right now, you know? My life's good right now, even though I miss you, a lot! And it's funny, I was sitting watching the Red Sox clobber some inferior team who will probably leave with a complex…"

Rory giggled. "You're watching the Red Sox?"

"With Luke and April," Lorelai added.

"Make that two things the Gilmore women did today that probably aren't on our top ten lists of things to accomplish before we conquer the world."

Lorelai gasped. "Did you finally learn the Soulja Boy dance?"

Rory groaned. "Mom! No. I went to a dance club, though, with some co-workers. It was a fun way to let off steam, but I was really claustrophobic by the end of the night. You know I don't dance."

"You went to a dance club?" Lorelai repeated.

"Not my wisest choice, but I had an okay time," Rory replied. "I gave my number to a pretty hot guy who works for the campaign too. He's from Hartford. It probably won't turn into anything, but I decided to be a little crazy for the night."

"You are your mother's daughter, after all," Lorelai pointed out.

"I just randomly cut you off, sorry. You were watching the Red Sox…" Rory started.

Lorelai played with her earring as she leaned against the wall. "Right. Luke and April and I are all up in Luke's apartment, watching, and I was thinking about how nice it would be for you to be here with us, you know?"

"I will be next week," Rory blurted.

Lorelai gasped. "No way!"

"Senator Obama's taking a mini vacation, and I'm in desperate need of one myself," Rory said. "I was calling to tell you that."

Lorelai let out a squeal. "Oh, Rory, you have no idea how excited that makes me!"

"I have an inkling," she teased. "I get in next Tuesday. April will still be around, I assume?"

"Until the week after next, how awesome is that?"

"Mom?"

Lorelai clicked her heel against the floor. "Yeah, kid?"

"You really sound happy," Rory replied.

"I am beyond happy, sweets," Lorelai said, winking at Luke as he poked his head out the door. "I've gotta go, but we'll talk soon?"

"Absolutely!" Rory said, hanging up the phone.

Lorelai pushed the door open gently, almost hitting Luke in the face. "Ooh!" she said, letting go of the door.

"Everything okay?" he asked, shutting the door behind him.

She nodded. "Everything's perfect," she replied. "Rory's coming home next week, and… this was such a great night…"

He grabbed her hand again and walked with her down the stairs and out the door of the diner. "You sound happy," he said with a small smile.

Lorelai nodded. "I am."

"I figured I'd walk you home. April wanted to have a private phone conversation with Marissa," Luke reasoned.

"You don't need a reason to walk me home, hot stuff," Lorelai teased.

"I was going to be nice to you, but I take it back now," Luke said.

Lorelai groaned. "Come on, what a tease!"

"I was thinking about it, and I was wondering. Would you uh… like to go to the Fall Ball with me?" he asked.

She looked at him. "Really?"

He nodded. "Yeah, what, did you think I was joking?"

"You're no Jeff Dunham, so… no," Lorelai giggled. "I was just surprised that you're willingly buying into all this."

"Well, I knew you wanted to go, so…"

She smiled. "I'd love to," she said, leaning in for a kiss.

He pulled away, smiling. "That's your stop," he said, motioning to her house.

"Okay. See you tomorrow?" she said.

"I'll make the coffee," he replied.

Saturday couldn't come fast enough for Lorelai. The preparations for the Fall Ball had been coming along all week and she was getting more and more antsy. The red halter dress was calling her name and it begged to be put on. When the time came to get dressed for the Fall Ball, Lorelai couldn't help but get giddy once again.

It reminded her of her first outing with Luke, to Liz's wedding. Her heels weren't as pretty as the ones she was wearing now, but the feeling she had was the same. It was that feeling of excitement she got whenever she was near Luke. The feelings seemed more intense the third time around, probably because everything was right.

Luke showed up at her door and her excitement grew. He smelled nice, he looked great, and he even wore a red tie.

"How'd you know about the… tie?" she stuttered.

He chuckled. "You're trying to tell me that you go all week talking about this red dress you have and how great it is, and how you're going to wear it… but you didn't think I'd pick up on it?"

"Wonders never cease," she said, leaning in for a kiss.

Lorelai was lost in her happiness as they walked to the town square. She was so intensely involved in recognizing her own happiness that she didn't snap out of her cheery reverie until about halfway through the ball.

The entire square looked more beautiful than Lorelai could ever have imagined. How much better could it get? A Fall Ball, food, and Luke as her date to said ball was sounding awfully good at the moment.

Lorelai looked at Luke, patting his knee. "I can't believe it's almost fall… again."

"It's not even fall, it's still the beginning of August," Luke argued, taking a sip of beer.

"Well, it just makes me happy, you know, knowing winter's right around the corner," Lorelai said, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"It's still summer," Luke grumbled.

Lorelai shrugged. "Still, it's a town event, and we're having a very nice time. We're dealing with very few annoyances today. Have a little enthusiasm about this, just this once?"

"I could try, on one condition," Luke agreed.

Lorelai reached over and straightened Luke's tie. "And what would that be?" she asked. "That I tie all your ties from now on?"

He looked at her and smiled. "If you dance with me."

She giggled, looking at the ground. "You want me to dance with you?"

He held out his hand, causing memories of their first dance to flood back into her head. "You want to dance?" he asked.

Lorelai winked at Luke. "I don't dance," she teased.

Luke chuckled and took her hand, leading her onto the dance floor and pulling her close. Lorelai smiled, thinking about how great Luke had been to her the past few months. She'd really needed Luke, he was important to her. He was her rock, the person she needed to help her through Rory's absence. And as they danced, she couldn't help but think about the many, many more dances they would share in the town square.


	8. What Perfect Feels Like

The airport was packed, but Lorelai didn't seem to notice. She sat in a daze, wiggling her right foot. "I need more coffee," she mumbled, starting to get up.

Luke grabbed her arm. "You've had three cups of coffee in the past hour. You're going to want to buy Rory a cup when she gets off the plane. Take it easy on the coffee for a little while."

"That's like telling Yo Yo Ma not to play his cello, or telling that guy you like on the Red Sox not to be a good hitter. It's impossible, it's what we do," Lorelai said, pouting.

"Caffeine leaves the body at a rate of seventeen percent per hour," April added. "You'll be way less fidgety if you wait on another cup."

Lorelai smiled. "Ah, yes, but that seventeen percent is vital to the functioning of my entire being."

"I'm sure you'll still be functioning when the seventeen percent wears off. Maybe you'll stop kicking my leg," Luke pointed out.

She sighed, sitting back down. "I'm just so… excited to see her! It's been so long."

Luke put his hand on Lorelai's knee. "She'll get here soon. Just try to relax."

Lorelai snorted. Relax? Impossible. Her baby girl was finally coming home for a break. Lorelai had planned a mother-daughter day somewhere in the mix, but there was something about the idea of merging her life with Luke and April to her life with Rory that appealed to her. She'd been waiting for it to happen for so long, and finally, it seemed like it would work.

"I can't wait to show her the book I've been reading. She'd appreciate it," April said, peering over the pages of the dog eared book she currently held in her hands.

The comment made Lorelai grin. The feeling she was getting was indescribable. April was just as excited as Lorelai was. And Lorelai had a feeling Luke was excited, too. He was constantly glancing at the board that contained Rory's flight information and gave Lorelai updates. She could see it herself, of course, but Luke was Luke. He'd never outwardly show his excitement, but Lorelai could interpret his actions and know exactly how he felt.

Lorelai was off in her own caffeine induced mental frenzy when Luke put his hand on her shoulder. She jumped, startled that he brought her out of her thought process. "Rory's plane just landed," he said, pointing to the board.

Quickly turning to the board, Lorelai jumped out of her seat. "She's here! My baby's here, Luke!"

He nodded, pointing to the gate nearby, where passengers from Rory's flight were starting to exit the plane. Lorelai kissed him on the cheek and quickly made her way to the gate. She held her hands together, clapping them, fingering the ring she had on her right hand, and analyzing her hangnail. She looked up and she finally saw Rory pass through the gate.

Rory looked up at her mom, breaking out in a grin and running full speed into Lorelai's arms. "MOM!" she shrieked, wrapping her arms around Lorelai and hugging her tightly.

Lorelai hugged back, grinning. "What have you been eating on the campaign trail? They obviously haven't been feeding you right, because you've lost weight, I'm sure of it," she teased, choking on her happy tears.

"Mom, I eat fine," Rory giggled, pulling back and wiping away tears of her own.

"Let me get a look at you," Lorelai said, pushing her daughter back slightly. "You look like you need some Luke's coffee."

Rory giggled. "Aw, hi, Luke, you came too!" she said, walking over to hug Luke.

"Welcome back, Rory," he said, smiling at Lorelai as Rory hugged him.

Rory caught sight of April and waved. "Hey, you, you're quite the e-mail chatterbox, aren't you? You must be spending too much time with my mom," Rory said, giving April a hug as well.

April grinned. "It's something you pick up rather quickly," she replied, returning the hug.

Lorelai grabbed Rory as soon as she was free again, pulling her into another hug. "I missed you, kid."

"It's so good to be home," Rory replied, following Luke and April as they walked a few feet ahead toward the baggage claim. "So much has changed!"

"Nothing's changed," Lorelai scoffed. "Stars Hollow is exactly the same."

Rory sighed. "But Kirk and Lulu, Gypsy and Andrew, you and Luke! Miss Patty had another boyfriend! I'm away for three months and all of that happens!"

"Hon, Lulu and Kirk and Gypsy and Andrew are the same as when you left them. They're oddest couples on the face of the earth."

"I know, I just… you and Luke have changed a lot. In a good way. I see it in how he looked at you," Rory pointed out.

Lorelai stopped. "What are you talking about? You've been back for five minutes, and you already notice a change?" she giggled.

"Mom, he gave you that look. You know the look. And April's said some things, too. I'm not the only one that noticed. And it's SO obvious. You guys are in love," Rory said, poking Lorelai repeatedly in the shoulder.

Lorelai wrapped her arm around Rory, leading her in the direction of the baggage claim. "We're not THAT serious, you know."

Rory winked. "Sure. Okay, whatever you say," she replied, placating Lorelai with her response.

"What's up with you, kid? How's your life going?"

"It's been pretty good. I got a call from the hot reporter. Not social, though, work related. Although I have a feeling it may turn into a very nice friendship. He doesn't know Grandma or Grandpa, and he loves to read," Rory explained. "And he's a movie buff. He saw 'Fatso'."

Lorelai smiled. "That could work out very nicely. I think your life has changed more than mine has at this point."

Rory shrugged. "Well, you know how it is. Change can do you good sometimes. Please don't tell me Taylor dyed his hair or anything, though."

"Still the same hair, still the same cardigans, and still the same Taylor. No changes in that department. Everything in Stars Hollow is still right where you left it, everyone still has the same hair color, no one has had liposuction. You'll be able to walk right in as though you never left."

"Babette and Miss Patty are still gossips?"

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "It would take an apocalypse for them to NOT be."

"Good. That's good," Rory smiled.

Luke walked over to Rory, holding up a suitcase. "This one's yours, right?"

She nodded. "Wow, that was fast!"

"Well, seeing as how they had your name on them, I could easily grab them," Luke said.

"Luke, I can…"

He shook his head. "Nah. I've got them."

Rory hugged Luke. "I missed you, too, you know."

Luke smiled, looking at Lorelai. Lorelai could tell that Luke was touched by the comment. She giggled as the two of them caught up on the walk back to the car.

"He really missed Rory, too," April said.

Lorelai nodded. "I can relate," she said with a wink. "I miss you when you're gone."

The two of them walked behind Rory and Luke, listening to Rory rant about the terrible coffee on the campaign trail. Suddenly, April looked up at Lorelai. "This is cool," she said.

"What's cool?" Lorelai asked.

"This," April said, motioning to the four of them. "I like it."

Lorelai pulled April close to her as they walked. "Feeling's mutual, kid. Definitely."

Lorelai and Rory caught up the entire afternoon. Coffee, stories of things that happened on the campaign trail, and laughs were all shared between the two before Rory went to bed. Lorelai walked into the kitchen to find Luke putting away the last of the dishes.

"Hey," she said softly.

He smiled at her. "How's Rory?"

"Happy to be home. Happy to have some good food, good coffee, and good company," Lorelai said, giving Luke a quick peck on the cheek.

"She was telling me something about how we've changed?"

Lorelai giggled. "She thinks you and I have made major strides since she left. Which we have, sure, but I don't see how this is so different from normal."

"Well, we have made a lot of changes in the past few months. We got back together, we're working on the communication thing… and we've gotten pretty comfortable with where we are," Luke said.

"You're awfully philosophical today, Socrates."

He shrugged. "I usually hate change. This is one of those changes that I can deal with."

"Really?"

"Sure. I mean, there will be more changes for us in the future that we'll have to deal with, right?"

Lorelai looked up at him. "Changes? Are planning on dumping me for a newer model?"

"I was thinking about… you know, other changes."

"Menopause?" Lorelai giggled. "I'm a little off on menopause for awhile."

He rolled his eyes. "You know what I'm talking about. Our future. Together. I see changes there, do you?"

She looked at him for a moment, studied his face. She looked into his eyes and she could almost feel what he was feeling. The soft side of him had come out a lot lately, and she had a feeling she knew why now. He wanted a middle, just like she did. She'd welcome a mixture of softy Luke and regular Luke.

"Of course I do," she said with a smile.

"Good," he said, kissing her on the forehead and taking her hand. "We don't have to go into it now. Ready for bed? It's been a long and exciting day, and I need some sleep."

She nodded, allowing him to lead her upstairs. He turned out the light and slipped under the covers, falling asleep almost immediately. Lorelai couldn't sleep, as the events of the day were replaying in her head.

She shuddered at the tingly feeling in her spine. So this was what perfect felt like. She smiled as she rolled over and closed her eyes.


	9. Welcome Home, Yummy Toes

Lorelai was smiling ear to ear as she watched Rory sip her coffee and eat her pancakes. Rory was home. She was really home, it wasn't a dream, and Lorelai couldn't be happier. Lorelai got out of her seat, and hugged Rory once again.

"Mom?" Rory asked with a giggle, trying to pull back.

"Not done," Lorelai replied.

"You're kinda squishing me," Rory said.

Lorelai loosened her grip. "Well, unsquish and give me a hug."

Rory hugged Lorelai tightly and laughed, her voice muffled in Lorelai's shoulder. "I love you, Mom."

"I love you, too," Lorelai replied, letting go of Rory. "Look who's not scared of you anymore!"

"Hi, there, Paul Anka," Rory said, crouching down to pet the dog and getting licked in the face as a response. "Ooh!" she giggled.

"He's glad Yummy Toes is back!" Lorelai said. "He loved your tasty piggies. Say, 'Welcome Home, Yummy toes!'"

"Crazy lady," Luke grumbled, pouring more coffee for Rory.

Rory turned to Luke. "What, you're not glad Yummy Toes is back?" she teased.

"I'm glad Rory's back, but I'm not so fond of her alter ego. You two are insane," he replied, filling Lorelai's cup as well.

April smiled. "Rory and I are roomies for the week," she teased.

"College, all over again," Rory mused. "Are you always such a night owl?" Rory asked, turning to April.

"Always," April answered with a smile.

"This is the beginning of a wonderful roommate relationship," Rory said. "Would it be okay if I unpacked some more, got dressed, and washed the dog slobber off of my face before our outing, Mom?"

Lorelai motioned to Rory's room. "Your room awaits you. It missed having an occupant. And the bathroom's still in the same spot you left it."

"I'm an occupant now? What a weird thing to be called."

"Well, that's what you are. What, would you rather be called 'that girl who throws her junk in here'?" Lorelai countered.

Rory hugged Lorelai. "I'm so glad I'm back."

"The feeling's mutual, go unpack," Lorelai said, motioning toward the door.

April and Rory disappeared upstairs and Lorelai bounced back into the kitchen, where Luke was doing dishes. "You're a god, you know that?" Lorelai said.

"All in a day's work," Luke teased. "You're happy."

"I'm just so glad she's home. As soon as she unpacks, I'm kidnapping her and taking her on a town raid. We are going to eat at Weston's bakery, stop by the inn, circle over to Miss Patty's, buy outrageous amounts of junk food at Doose's, and then go to rent 'Willy Wonka'."

Luke raised his eyebrows. "You realize that is the most inconvenient way possible to walk around town?"

Lorelai shrugged. "More time with my baby."

"I see," Luke replied.

"I'm just glad she's home, you know? It's awesome."

Luke wiped his hands on a paper towel. "You seem very happy."

"You know, so do you. You don't show it a lot, but you are happy, and I know it."

Luke nodded as Rory came thumping down the stairs. "I brought the camera to document our adventures," she said, holding up the camera.

"Perfect, document me saying goodbye to Luke," Lorelai said, wrapping her arms around him.

Rory giggled. "That is an adorable picture," she said, pressing the button and turning the camera to reveal the picture to Lorelai.

"I want a poster size," Lorelai said, giving Luke a kiss and grabbing her keys.

Luke smiled. "Don't get into too much trouble," he said.

Lorelai snorted. "Oh, don't worry, we will," she said, holding out her arm as Rory linked her arm in Lorelai's.

"See you later," Rory called over her shoulder as Lorelai dragged her toward the door. "Whoa, where's the fire?"

"We are young and beautiful women who deserve a day out on the town!" Lorelai insisted. She opened the door to the Crap Shack and walked with Rory. She looked over at Rory, smiling, as she walked.

"You're getting kind of stalkerish on me, you know," Rory teased.

Lorelai smiled, stopping in the middle of the street. "I know, I'm being kind of sappy about this, and a little selfish, but I am so glad to have you home. I missed you, a lot, and I want you to make sure you're aware of that."

"I think the singing telegram I got while I was in Idaho said that, Lisa Loeb style," Rory explained.

"It's the only song I could think of with 'I Miss You' in it at the moment," Lorelai pouted.

Rory giggled, shaking her head. "It was cute. I liked it, you know that."

"It's just, you seemed a little miffed about some of the changes that were happening while you were gone, and I wanted to make sure you knew that I want you to be a part of those changes."

Rory sat on the bench nearby. "We decided that there weren't that many changes," she insisted.

Lorelai looked at her daughter. "I don't know, I just… you seemed upset about it earlier and I wanted to get an idea on how you're doing now. While it's just you and Mommy."

Rory smiled. "I'm fine with it, I just hate how much I have to be away from everyone. You know?"

Lorelai nodded. "Absolutely."

"I'm so happy for you and Luke. Totally over the moon about it. I just hate being away. I rethink it sometimes, but others I love the interesting aspects of my job, you know?" Rory asked, putting her hair behind her ears.

"If you're happy, I'm happy, kid," Lorelai reassured Rory.

"Besides, I'm going through some changes too."

"Spill!" Lorelai demanded.

Rory blushed. "I have a little crush on the guy I gave my number to."

"No way!" Lorelai said with a smile.

Rory nodded. "His name is Colton. Very hot name, and a very hot guy. There are pictures I'll show you later. They're not on this memory card."

"You should ask him out to coffee, you said he was local, right?"

"Hartford, not the grandma and grandpa Hartford," Rory insisted.

"He sounds like a great catch," Lorelai replied. "I'm going to need a visual before you go on, however."

Rory leaned her head on her mom's shoulder. She suddenly sat up and took around the town square. "How long do you think it will be before people notice we're sitting here?" she asked.

Lorelai shrugged. "Twenty seconds, with a three second margin of error," she mused.

Rory looked at her watch. "You're on," she replied.

As Rory counted to twenty, Lane spotted the two, shrieking Rory's name as she ran toward them.

"Told you," Lorelai said, elbowing Rory in the ribs.

"Lane!" Rory said, standing up and giving her friend a hug.

Lane pushed Rory back, breaking the hug and almost causing Rory to lose her balance. "It's really you! Is it really you?" she asked.

"Cheese house," Rory replied with a laugh.

Lane nodded, grabbing Rory's arm. "You have to see the boys. They're so big now. Lorelai, is that okay?"

"More than okay, you have at it," Lorelai said. "I've got her for the rest of the week."

"Thanks," she said, pulling Rory away and across the town square.

Lorelai watched, smiling at the reunion of the two friends. She stopped at all the necessary locations and grabbed all the food and supplies they'd need for the night. Luke opened the door to the house for her when she arrived. "Wow, you're fast," she said.

"Saw you coming," he replied, taking a few bags for her.

"You're too sweet," she said, walking into the house and placing the bags on the kitchen table. "So Rory's okay."

"I'd hope she would be," Luke replied.

Lorelai walked into the living room, seating herself on the couch. "She was a little bummed out about how much she'd missed. With you and me, with the town, which hasn't changed that much, but still. Remember the change talk?"

"It seems like a lot when it all hits you at once," Luke reasoned. "And yes, I remember our talk last night."

"Exactly."

Luke sat next to her and wrapped his arm around her. "I'm glad she's home."

"Will you move in with me?" Lorelai asked suddenly.

Luke chuckled, and then thought about what Lorelai said. "Huh?"

"Will you move in? I think it's a change we need to make. Since change has been the theme of the past few days. I mean, if you're ready for that. I like the idea, and after our talk last night about the changes we've made and will make eventually, I just… I love having you around, Luke. You pretty much live here anyway."

"You mean that?" he said with a smile.

"It's one of the very few serious things I've said all day," she replied.

He nodded. "Yes, I'll move in," he replied.

She leaned in and kissed him. "Yay," she said with a smile, curling up close to him and falling alseep.

Rory walked in a few hours later, startling Lorelai. Lorelai waved sleepily.

"We'll watch later," Rory said, pointing to her room.

Lorelai blew Rory a kiss. "Welcome home, Yummy Toes," she whispered, closing her eyes again.


	10. Let There Be Light

Lorelai watched as Rory boarded the plane. She felt like an idiot watching Rory's plane fly away and staring out the window for a few minutes after takeoff. She walked back to the parking lot, where Luke had parked the truck to take her back home.

Luke turned to Lorelai as she shut the door to the truck. "You okay?" he asked.

She nodded, wiping a few tears away. "I'm good," she sniffled. "Really."

"You don't sound good," Luke replied, putting his hand on her knee.

Lorelai sighed. "It's still hard. She was here for a week, but it's still hard."

"I know," Luke replied. "You miss her."

"It'll get better," she said, trying to sound convincing. "I did okay the first time."

Luke turned and faced Lorelai. "You did more than okay," he insisted. "You love Rory and you're doing what's best for her."

"Sucks for me though," she said, smiling at Luke as she wiped her tears.

"You're just going to have to look forward to the holiday season, she'll be back."

Lorelai nodded, reaching for the seatbelt and buckling it, folding her sweater and using it as a pillow as she tried to get comfortable to take a nap. As Luke drove back to Stars Hollow, Lorelai thought about the fun week she had with Rory. The two had multiple movie marathons, attended a town meeting, and went on two shopping sprees, the second including a Sephora run. But still, there were so many things Lorelai still wanted to do with Rory, and all of a sudden Rory was on a plane, back on the campaign trail.

It was like the first time all over again. A little less jarring, a little less spontaneous, but it left the same feeling in Lorelai's gut. It was a slightly empty feeling, but a feeling of pride. Rory was a successful journalist, covering the campaign for a presidential candidate. Rory wasn't a nobody. Lorelai's little girl was out in the world all on her own, making a name for herself and making Lorelai proud.

Luke gently rubbed her shoulder after he had pulled into the driveway. Lorelai turned to him and smiled. "Hey," she said, stretching.

"We're back," Luke said.

"When I caught a glimpse of the chuppah I knew we were in familiar territory," she answered.

"You want some coffee?"

Lorelai smiled, unbuckling her seatbelt and opening the door to the truck. "You know me well."

He opened the door, waving to April as he walked into the kitchen. He started a pot of coffee and turned to Lorelai. "So, this moving in thing. Is that why you planned that I stay here while April and Rory were home?"

"Elementary, my dear Watson. Well, yeah, I mean, I wanted you to see how nice it could be. The additions we put on really do allow for you living here. Why, are you having doubts?"

"No, no doubts," he replied, opening the refrigerator. "I just… wanted to make sure that you absolutely meant it."

She nodded. "Of course I meant it."

"Good."

"Good."

"Good."

"Okay, is my coffee ready yet?" Lorelai said, breaking the pattern.

Luke smirked. "You're awfully impatient, aren't you? Yes, the coffee's ready," he said, reaching for a mug to pour her coffee in.

"Don't you have to get back to the diner?" Lorelai asked, accepting the coffee mug as Luke handed it to her.

"You trying to kick me out?" he teased.

"No, no, I'm just…"

"Lorelai, I was teasing. Is something wrong?"

She looked down at her coffee mug, tracing her finger along the handle. "No, I just… why am I such a baby about missing Rory?"

"You're not," Luke insisted.

She stood up from the table and started to pace. "It's just that I've started to think about all of this ahead of time. Rory won't be home for her birthday. She won't be here for a lot of town festivals. The next time I'll see her is the day before Thanksgiving and we ship her off again the day after Thanksgiving. The same with Christmas. I hate this, Luke, I feel so selfish!"

Luke pulled Lorelai close. "You're not selfish, you have a right to miss your daughter. You keeping her from doing what she wants would be selfish. You're doing fine."

"I'm normally so independent, so good about this stuff, letting my daughter be independent and strong, and self sufficient. But I want her to be dependent on me again, Luke! Why am I such a terrible person for not wanting her to be so far away? I kind of just had this light bulb moment, Luke, I'm a terrible person."

"Lorelai, you don't get over this stuff in a day. It's okay to miss Rory. Really, it is. No one expects you to go on with your life and ignore the fact that you miss her. She's important to you."

"I don't want to act like one of those dumb princesses locked in a tower, who needs someone to slay a dragon to save her," Lorelai insisted.

Luke gently rubbed her back. "You don't. It's okay. Things will get better."

"I hope so," she mumbled, letting out a sigh.

"I'll run to the diner and grab you some of the pie I made this morning, that should make you feel better, right?" he asked.

She grinned, sniffling. "You're so good to me," she said.

He leaned in and kissed her. "I'll be back," he replied, taking his keys.

Lorelai sat at the table, drumming her fingers against her coffee mug until she felt the need to get up and move around. She was already feeling a little better, knowing that Luke wasn't appalled by her behavior during Rory's absence. She looked outside to see if the mail had come yet, trying to stall until Luke brought back Lorelai's pie.

She slowly walked out to the mailbox and pulled out a large envelope. She looked at the return address and shuddered. She knew what was inside the envelope. Way to make a weird day weirder.

Lorelai walked inside and seated herself at the table, opening the envelope to reveal her divorce papers. Christopher had already signed and dated them, she was the party that was to answer the petition. She laughed for a second, realizing that she'd officially been 'served'. Oh, the references that she could use to go along with the moment. She sniffled again, still on the tail end of her meltdown with Luke, and realized that the sooner she signed the papers, the sooner she would be legally divorced.

She grabbed her 'Bop it' pen from her purse, looking the documents over. This was supposed to feel awkward, weird, sort of unsettling. But for some reason, it wasn't. She'd talked it over with the mediator about a week after they decided to end it all. An uncontested divorce could be final within just a few months, according to her lawyer and all the research she'd done. All she had to do was sign the papers.

She stared at the pen. Exchanging it for a more serious pen, she signed and dated the forms, tossing the pen back in her purse, when she heard Luke come through the front door. Running toward the door, she grabbed a pie from his hand and gave him a quick peck on the lips. "Ooh, you brought two pies?"

"I figured you'd want some choice in the matter, and April asked me to pick her up a slice while I was out."

"Killing two birds with one stone, I see," Lorelai said, walking into the kitchen and grabbing a plate from the cabinet.

Luke put the second pie on the counter, glancing at the kitchen table. "What's all that?" he asked.

Lorelai cleared her throat. "That's, uh, my divorce papers," she said, turning her attention to the pie. "Came in the mail today. No big deal."

"You signed them already?"

"No, I sang to them, we played games, and we took pictures in a photo booth to remember the occasion. Of course I signed them already! You know how it was."

He nodded. "I do. But don't you have to…"

"No, no notarizing this time. We reached an agreement awhile back, and the lawyer informed us that we could do it through mail as long as that's what we both agreed on and we both signed it. There's about a zillion ways you can get divorced, and apparently you can even do it online. But we just decided we'd make it simple, you know? No hassle. We both want out, Luke."

He smiled. "I'm glad, because things could get complicated if that wasn't mutual."

She leaned in and kissed him. "I'm sealing them up now and mailing them tomorrow morning."

"You don't have to explain," Luke insisted.

She took a bite of pie and gathered the papers up. "I want to include you, Luke. I don't want to leave you in the dark. Let there be light."

He nodded. "Thanks."

"You betcha," she replied, shoving more pie into her mouth. "Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for being so good to me and Rory this week," she said with a mouthful of pie. "We appreciate it."

"You're welcome."


	11. Austin Powers and Happy Gilmores

Lorelai folded her hands on the counter, shaking her head. "I still hold my theory that my mother is a femme-bot, you know, like from Austin Powers? You never know what will make her explode," Lorelai mused.

Luke rolled his eyes, wiping down the counter as the phone rang. He walked toward it and picked it up. "Luke's," he answered. "Hey, April, you home safe?"

"Tell April I say hi," Lorelai said, leaning across the counter and poking Luke in the ribs.

Flinching, Luke glared at her and rolled his eyes. "Lorelai says hi. Uh huh. Okay, talk to you later. I love you too, bye."

"What did she say?"

Luke rolled his eyes. "Why am I your go between to say hello to April, who you just saw yesterday?"

Lorelai huffed. "Because the tin can string couldn't reach New Mexico, of course, and what the hell has gotten into you, Mr. Cranky Pants?"

"I'm just not so thrilled with the idea of going to dinner again tonight, your anecdote about your mother being a robot reminded me," Luke insisted.

"You're telling me," Lorelai muttered. "And I definitely tried to get you out of it, but you just broke the rule of letting me explain things to my parents."

"There was no conference on tainted meat that I was required to go to, Lorelai, they would have figured it out eventually," he said, pouring her another cup of coffee. "Crappy excuses don't always work."

Lorelai took the mug and pulled it closer by the handle. She looked up at Luke. "Ah, but sometimes they're so crappy they're just that believable. I'm just trying to keep an open mind here, that they really are excited about us. My mom has a reputation for faking it."

Luke shrugged. "I seem to remember the use of 'rustic' as the tell tale sign that she wasn't so good at it."

"Hey, I never said she was 'Joe Millionaire' or 'My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance', but she's not bad at pulling the wool over our eyes at times," she replied, looking down at her coffee cup.

"Sounds like someone else is on the fence about this too," Luke pointed out. "Are you optimistic or are you dreading tonight?"

Lorelai sighed. "Rory was the buffer last week, and April had been for the two weeks before that. Now it's just us again, Luke. She can really sink her teeth into the situation."

"She's not a vampire, Lorelai, she's your mother."

"One in the same. Thanks for rubbing your cranky mood off on me," she insisted, tapping her foot against the stool.

As Luke prepared to reply to Lorelai, Kirk walked up to the counter and seated himself next to her. "What can I do for you, Kirk?"

"Well, I was wondering if it was possible for you to make me a half bacon cheeseburger?"

"Kirk, if he makes you a cheeseburger with a stitch of bacon on it, it's a bacon cheeseburger," Lorelai said, turning to face him.

His eyes darted back and forth, between Luke and Lorelai, and he sighed. "But it's only half bacon. If it was a sheet of bacon, if you will, then it's a bacon cheeseburger."

Lorelai snorted, taking a sip of her coffee. "Well, what would it be then? Bay-cheeseburger? That's half of the word bacon."

"Kirk, go back to your table, I can put bacon on half the patty for you, just sit down and don't get up until you're finished with your meal," Luke grumbled.

"What if I have to use the facilities?"

"Kirk!" Luke barked, pointing to the chair, sending Kirk darting back to his seat.

Lorelai giggled. "I will see you tonight. You gave me my good mood back with that," she said, leaning across the counter for a kiss.

"See you tonight," Luke replied as Lorelai walked out the door.

Lorelai ran all the possible scenarios of what could happen at dinner that night through her mind. The most amusing involved a karaoke machine and Richard's version of a Fergie song. But it was also the most far-fetched. She walked into the kitchen, smiling at Sookie as she reached for a nonexistent coffee pot.

"The coffee maker died this morning, Michel's getting a new one now," Sookie insisted. "Just temporary. Then I figured we'd give you the temporary one once the new one comes in, which I already called the appliance guy about, and it's still under warranty."

Lorelai raised her eyebrows. "Wow," she said. "That was fast."

"Well, I didn't want to be in the line of fire due to your lack of caffeine consumption," she insisted, stirring the day's dinner recipe.

"Smart woman," Lorelai teased. 

"You seem distracted today, are you okay?" Sookie asked.

Lorelai sighed, rubbing her temples. "I have dinner tonight with my parents. And Luke."

"You've taken that step before, hon," Sookie said, trying to reassure Lorelai.

"Sure, but they're playing games with my mind. They're pretending to like Luke, but the second they see something 'wrong' with him, kaboom."

"Kaboom?" Sookie asked, scrunching up her nose. "I have a feeling there's going to be a mess following that kaboom?"

Lorelai nodded gravely, leaning against the counter. "It just seems too good to be true, with Emily and Richard Gilmore."

"Well, sweetie, I think you should give it a try. Maybe your parents are trying to be happy for you this time," Sookie insisted.

Lorelai grabbed a donut from a nearby plate. "That seems to be the general consensus," she sighed. "I'll try it. Again."

"Good girl," Sookie said with a nod.

She wished the day would have dragged, but it didn't. In fact, the guests at the inn kept her busy and before she knew it, she was back in the Crap Shack stumbling over a box of Luke's things in front of her closet.

"You okay?" Luke asked, moving the box aside. 

She nodded, smoothing the fabric on her black dress. "Do I look okay?"

"'Okay' is an understatement," he said with a devilish grin.

She shook her head. "You spend way too much time with me. I like it," she said, straightening his tie.

"I'm just hoping things go well for us tonight, maybe you'll feel better about the whole situation," Luke insisted.

Lorelai pulled on her heels and took one last look in the mirror before meeting Luke at the front door. "Let's get this over with," she grumbled, walking out the door.

The drive to the Gilmore mansion was silent. Lorelai was lost in her own worries about the night. Something was bound to go wrong, she could feel it. She stepped out onto the driveway and tripped, twisting her ankle.

"You okay?" Luke asked.

Lorelai nodded. "Oh, I'm fine. It's just another way for Emily Gilmore to spite me."

"Can you try to go into this with an open mind? For my sake? My sanity's being compromised here," Luke insisted, ringing the doorbell.

She sighed, crossing her arms. "Fine," she pouted, waiting for the maid to show them to the living room for drinks. 

Luke politely greeted the maid and grabbed Lorelai's hand, leading her into the house. The maid brought the couple to the living room and Emily smiled, greeting the pair. 

"Luke, Lorelai, we're so glad you could make it, and on time!" Emily gushed. "Please, have a seat."

Lorelai rolled her eyes, taking a seat on the couch and crossing her legs. "Hi mom," she said sweetly, a forced smile on her face.

"What has gotten into you, Lorelai?" Emily asked.

Luke glared at Lorelai, who shook her head. "I'm sorry, Mom, it was a rather rough day at the inn, I didn't intend to take it out on you."

"Is something wrong with the inn?" Richard asked.

"Just a broken coffee maker, that's all. The guests were rather impatient and our temporary coffee maker wasn't doing the trick," Lorelai explained.

Emily nodded. "Lorelai, Luke, would you like something to drink?"

"I'll have my usual, Mom," Lorelai replied with a smile, patting Luke's knee.

The elder Gilmores made polite conversation until the maid came in to announce that dinner was ready. Lorelai gently put her hand on her mother's shoulder and jumped at Emily's reaction.

"Lorelai, what on Earth…"

"I didn't mean to scare you, Mom, I was just wondering if we could talk," Lorelai said, waving her hand.

Emily straightened up. "What could we possibly have to talk about?"

"Are you pretending to be happy for me and Luke? Because if you are…" 

"Why would you think that, Lorelai? What, your father and I can't try and accept the new man in your life for once? Isn't that what you wanted?"

She sighed, looking her mother in the eye. "Last time…"

"Last time has no bearing on this time, Lorelai, we've all gotten to know Luke a little bit better, and I certainly hope you'd be happy that your father and I are accepting you and Luke as a couple."

Lorelai took a step back, trying to process what Emily had just said. She had hoped it would be true, but she never expected to hear it from her mother. "Honestly, Mom, you accept us together?"

Emily turned up her nose. "Lorelai, you act like I'm some snob incapable of being happy for her daughter!"

"Mom, I…"

"Yes, Lorelai, we are happy for you and Luke. Do you want me to screen it on a t-shirt? Perhaps I can go to Hartford and pose with your father, have them write the message on a coffee mug for you?"

"Don't ruin it, Mom?" Lorelai begged.

Emily sighed. "Your father and Luke are waiting in the dining room, come sit down."

Lorelai followed her mother into the dining room, wearing a smile on her face. If only Rory was there for that conversation. Of course Lorelai didn't think to tape it, but then again that was illegal anyway. She'd have to tell Rory about it first thing in the morning.

But she was just a little more excited about telling Luke that Emily and Richard's intentions were good. Lorelai had a feeling that the potatoes could possibly end up talking to the peas if she didn't keep her happiness in check.


	12. In Sickness and In Health

The emotions Lorelai was feeling as she and Luke finished up dinner and said their goodbyes were different than usual. More than the overwhelming feeling of exhaustion she normally felt upon exiting her parents' house, she felt a sense of relief that she was thrilled to share with Luke. "Wow," Lorelai said as she walked out the door of the Gilmore mansion.

Luke put his arm around her and started to walk toward the truck. "You're happy," he pointed out. "Your talk with Emily must have gone well."

She nodded, turning to Luke and smiling. "I can't believe it. Well, I can, but it's so… nice. My parents, Richard and Emily Gilmore, are supportive of me, of us, of our relationship. For real this time. Just… wow."

Luke opened the door for her and walked around the other side of the truck. He opened the door and started the truck, turning to Lorelai. "You're speechless, that must mean you're really happy."

"I was going to spend the rest of my life with you anyway, don't get me wrong. But what a huge sumo wrestler-esque weight off my shoulders! This, and the inn, and Rory are the only three areas of my life that I would have even thought about hoping for their approval on. I don't care if they like the furniture in the house, or the clothes I wear, or anything else. Should this be so mind blowing that I have a headache?" she asked, leaning her head back and closing her eyes.

"You okay?" Luke asked.

"I must have had one drink too many at dinner," she replied.

"You only had one drink," Luke pointed out.

Lorelai groaned. "Exactly."

He reached over and put his hand on her forehead. "You're hot," he said.

"So are you," she giggled.

"You're obviously not delirious," Luke insisted. "I walked right into that one. Are you sure you're feeling okay?"

Lorelai waved her hand. "I'll go in an hour or so late tomorrow. No big deal. I'll leave a message on the inn's machine for Michel."

Luke nodded, pulling out of the driveway and onto the main road. "If you're sure."

"I think it's stress. I've been feeling bad all day," she insisted, closing her eyes.

"Well, a good night's sleep should help you tonight," Luke suggested.

She sighed, letting out a groan and lazily reaching for her purse. "I promised Rory I'd call her."

"Rory will be fine, she'll understand. I'll explain the whole thing to her for you."

"If you explain, she'll think I blackmailed you into doing dirty things all night as a cover up."

"Cover up?" Luke asked, raising his eyebrows. "For what?"

She nodded, moving only her arm to blindly reach for her purse. "For the fact that instead of calling her, I was out partying with Paris Hilton and she convinced us to make our own naughty tape that years from now will surface on the internet, coming back to haunt us for the rest of our lives."

"I have a feeling she won't jump to those kinds of conclusions," Luke reassured her. "I'll call her in the morning."

"Okay," Lorelai consented, closing her eyes again. "Can you make me an ice cream sundae when we get home? My throat hurts."

Luke took Lorelai's hand. "I don't think this is stress from anticipating the dinner, I think you're sick."

"I can't be sick. Just like Peter Pan never grows up, Lorelai Gilmore never gets sick."

"Please," Luke scoffed. "You're the biggest drama queen in the world when you're sick. I remember once when you had the flu you asked me to come over and read you magazines."

Lorelai gasped. "I was too sick to lift them. All my energies were spent running to the bathroom every ten seconds."

Luke pulled into the driveway of the Crap Shack. "You also decided that one spring when you had conjunctivitis that you'd have me over to try and get me to play pirates with you."

"The eye patch turned you on, and you know it," she insisted.

"I'm sorry, disgusting eye ailments are not sexy," Luke replied.

"In sickness and in health, start practicing, mister."

"Practicing? I've ALWAYS taken care of you when you got sick," he countered.

She opened her eyes, and turned slightly to her right, watching as he opened the passenger door for her. Looking up at him, trying not to laugh at his fake exasperation, she pouted. "True. Luke, will you carry me?" she pleaded. "I won't make it but to the edge of the grass."

"Are you serious?"

"I don't kid, Luke, I'm not sure if you're aware, but a lady never kids."

He reached over, unbuckling her seatbelt. "Then who, or should I say what, am I going out with?"

She sighed. "You're going to carry me?"

"You felt warm, you say you have a headache and a sore throat, I'd rather not deal with the guilt of letting you pass out from dehydration."

Lorelai wrapped her arms around Luke's neck. "You're so good to me," she whispered.

"I try," he replied, trying to open the front door with Lorelai in his arms.

"Watch out for Paul Anka," she murmured.

Luke stopped dead in his tracks, startling Lorelai. 

"What?" she asked.

"You said watch out for Paul Anka."

"I meant don't trip over him."

"You're exhausting," Luke said, carrying Lorelai upstairs. "If this is all an act to get me in bed…"

She shook her head. "No, no act. To be honest, I feel like gum stuck to the bottom of someone's shoe, that got scraped off the shoe onto the sidewalk, and someone very large sat in when they sat on the sidewalk."

"That good, huh?" he asked, placing her on the bed.

Lorelai closed her eyes, trying hard to swallow. She hated that feeling she had in her throat when she couldn't swallow. The medicine cabinet was too far, and besides, she was out of the specific kind of Tylenol she liked. All they had left were the circular shaped, generic Tylenol, not the special gel capsules she liked. The circles were too hard to swallow and they often got stuck in her throat.

At this point, though, she didn't really care. She had known that she was getting sick, but she pushed the thought away to focus on other problems. She felt a gentle tap on the shoulder and sat up, braving the generic circular Tylenol and throwing on her blankets, curling up underneath them in a completely uncomfortable position.

She woke up a few hours later to see that Luke had left two more pills and a bottled water on her side of the bed in case she needed them. She took the pills, turned to see that Luke was still in bed, and tried to go back to sleep. Closing her eyes, all she could think about was Rory. She hated that cycle of thoughts that she got when she was sick. Usually, it was a song that was stuck in her head, or the last TV show she watched. 

But this time, it was Rory. She turned onto her back, staring at the ceiling, trying to think about anything but Rory. Finally, after what seemed like hours, she turned over and tried to wake Luke up. "Luke?" she whispered.

He turned to face Lorelai. "Are you okay? Did you take…"

"I miss Rory," she admitted. "I'm sick, and she used to paint my toenails when I was sick. And my throat hurts so bad I can't even swallow, and it hurts to talk, and I just…"

Luke moved closer to her, wrapping an arm around her. He kissed her forehead. "Shhh. We'll call Rory tomorrow, just try to get some sleep, okay?"

"But I miss her, Luke!" Lorelai hiccupped.

"I know," Luke said, rubbing her shoulder. "I'll paint your toenails for you if you want."

"Really?" she sniffed.

"I never kid," he said with a smile.

Lorelai reached over and grabbed the bottle of water from the night table. She took a long sip and then covered herself back up. "Thank you," she whispered.

"Anytime," Luke replied, reaching over and wiping her tears from her eyes.

Lorelai woke up the next morning to the smell of toast. She sat up, rubbing her eyes, and watched as Luke brought her a tray with food on it. She opened her mouth, attempting to thank him, but nothing came out. She fell back onto her pillow in frustration, flailing her arms and pouting at Luke.

"I had a feeling that would happen," Luke insisted. "And as much as I want to mock you, I know you don't feel well, so I'll save it for when you're better and you can tell me what your comebacks would have been."

He handed her a pad of paper and a pen. She scrawled something onto the paper and handed it to him.

"Always prepared," he read. "Yes, I am. I just know how those sore throats can get, and any communication means you can get, you'd need."

She held out her hand and Luke handed the notebook over once again. She held up the new note herself, rolling her eyes at the laugh it drew from Luke.

"You could NOT go without talking for a whole day. I would bet my life on that."

Lorelai quickly scrawled "Don't be so sure" on the paper and tossed it at him. He pushed the tray toward her and pointed to the toast.

"Try that, and if you're feeling better later, you can have something else," he insisted.

As Lorelai started writing a novel-length, reference-laden note, the telephone rang. Her eyes widened as he reached over for it. 

"Hello?" he answered. "Oh, hey, Rory, listen, your mom isn't feeling too well, she lost her voice."

Lorelai flipped to a new notebook page and started scribbling. After writing "Translate?" on the paper, and getting a nod from Luke, Lorelai began writing another note.

"Your mom's writing, I'll give you the message. Although it won't sound the same coming from me."

Lorelai rolled her eyes and handed him the notebook.

"Hey, kiddo, listen, if I die from this incurable disease, please do not turn the Crap Shack into a Graceland type museum. If you decide to ignore my wishes, you will be haunted," Luke read. He listened to Rory's reply and turned to Lorelai. "She wants to know if she can have your shoes."

Lorelai jerked the notebook from Luke's hands and scrawled a new message on it.

"Cruel, insensitive child. Remember who birthed you," Luke read in a monotone voice.

Lorelai huffed, shaking her head and scribbling a message to Luke on the paper.

He read it and sighed. "Of course I'm not doing it right, I'm not you."

She shrugged, pointing to the phone. 

"She says she hopes that you feel better and she'll call and check on you frequently during the day. She'll think of a button system and yes or no questions for you to answer."

Lorelai gave the 'thumbs up' sign and picked up the piece of toast, analyzing it as she took a bite. When Luke hung up the phone, Lorelai grabbed the notebook and the pen again, writing him another message.

He sat next to her, reading what she wrote out loud. "About last night. That was just a fluke, you know. I hadn't cried about Rory being gone in a few days, and before she left the second time, I was getting better."

She nodded, continuing to write.

He gently grabbed her hand. "You're sick, you're stressed out. It was all coming out at once. You just got a little overemotional, it happens. Your secret's safe with me."

Lorelai looked Luke in the eye, almost looking for confirmation. 

He nodded. "I know you're okay. Eat your toast."

She kissed him on the cheek and picked up the abandoned piece of toast again. Maybe being sick wasn't so bad after all.


	13. Road to Recovery

"You sound awful," Rory insisted.

Lorelai sighed. She'd been sick in bed for almost the entire week. Luke refused to fall for any of Lorelai's schemes, and all her tricks to try and get out of bed had failed. Finally, she got a chance to talk to Rory, and she was being insulted. "For the first time hearing Mommy's voice in almost seven days, this is how kind you are to me?"

"I'll bet the doctor told you not to talk, it's like when I was told not to scratch when I had the chicken pox."

"Doctor Danes told me not to talk to anyone, but who listens to him anyway?" she croaked.

Rory giggled. "I'm amused by the fact that you're talking to me, of all the people you could talk to, but I refuse to keep you on the phone for long. I don't want to get in trouble."

"Suck up," Lorelai shot back, trying to cover it with a fake cough.

"I heard that. Just because you're stuck watching 'Judge Judy' all day doesn't mean I'll let the low blows slide, Tonya Harding."

Lorelai sighed. "Luke said he may let me go to the town meeting tonight if I sound better. I need to get out of the house, I need a trip to Sephora. The 'Midnight Cowboy Rides Again' eye shadow won't wait for me. Unless, of course, you hid a stack before you left last."

Rory laughed. "What a name for an eye shadow. But I'd concentrate on getting to that meeting first. Or back to the Dragonfly."

"I need to get back there as soon as possible, the place is going haywire. Apparently Michel had a run in with the Grants," Lorelai mused.

"They're your best customers," Rory insisted. "I've known them since I was tiny. What did he do?"

She rolled her eyes and took a sip of water. "Something about the bath towels. Sookie told me it's all fine, they know Michel anyway, so they know the act that he puts on."

"Ah. I see. You should read while you're stuck in bed. Literary references come in handy too, you know," Rory suggested.

"Like you have time to read either, miss campaign trail goddess."

"I'm just starting a new book, actually."

"Oh, yeah?"

"'Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close' by Jonathan Safran Foer. It's supposed to be excellent, some other people on the trail just finished it," Rory explained.

Lorelai heard the front door open, and groaned. "Uh, Rory, sweets, I hate to have to cut you off, but Luke's here. I have to go."

"You're in trouble," Rory taunted, giggling as she hung up the phone.

Luke poked his head into the room just after Lorelai hung up the telephone and hid it underneath the sheets. She held the remote in her hand, flipping through the channels as he walked in. "I heard you on the phone with Rory."

Lorelai groaned. "I haven't talked to my kid in almost a week. I haven't talked to ANYONE in that amount of time, not even myself. I rescind my earlier statement about not talking to anyone. I want to be better, Luke, I want to get up out of bed and go back to the inn…"

"And back to Friday night dinner?" Luke continued.

Lorelai coughed. "You're right, I'm still sick," she whispered.

"Thought you'd see it my way," Luke replied, handing her a glass of orange juice. "How are you feeling today? You were still asleep when I got up this morning, and you still sound like a sick duck."

"I feel a little better," Lorelai said. "Stir crazy, for sure."

"It will be over soon," Luke insisted. "If you want I can make you tomato soup and put the Goldfish crackers in tonight."

"Can I name them, and tell you their soap opera story again?" Lorelai asked excitedly. "Because last time, when I wasn't sick, Loretta and Andrew were patching things up, but when Bernie came out of the coma, their world got turned upside down."

Luke rolled his eyes. "I don't care what you do with them as long as you eventually eat them."

"Deal," Lorelai said, leaning in for a kiss.

Luke pulled back and smiled as the phone rang. "Hello?" he answered. He pulled the phone away from his ear, grimacing at the sound on the other end. "It's your mother, she wants to talk to you."

She put her hand to her throat and shook her head, and Luke rolled his eyes.

"If you can talk to Rory, you can talk to her," Luke insisted, handing her the phone.

"Hello?" Lorelai croaked.

"Lorelai? Is that you? What on Earth is wrong with your voice?" Emily demanded to know.

Lorelai rolled her eyes and sighed. "It's called laryngitis, mother, I've been sick, in bed, for almost a week. The laryngitis is a side effect of a disgusting cold."

Emily huffed. Lorelai could almost picture Emily's hand being thrown in the air as she spoke. "Honestly, Lorelai, did you not think to give me a courtesy call to inform me of this?"

"I haven't been able to speak for days," Lorelai insisted. "This is the best my voice has gotten in a week."

"Luke lives with you now, does he not? He could have called, or does he have sympathy laryngitis?"

Lorelai's jaw dropped. "How did you… we were going to…"

"And you neglected to share that news with us as well, didn't you? Michel actually informed me of that new development."

"Mom, my throat really hurts…"

"You are not getting out of this now, young lady. You are going to listen to me talk even if you can't talk back. Frankly that works to my advantage, because you won't always be cutting in with some quippy remark."

Lorelai looked at Luke, an expression of panic on her face, pleading him to do something. He shrugged and shook his head, patting her leg apologetically.

"Lorelai Gilmore, I reached out to you. I told you that your father and I approve of Luke. Now you decide to shut us out and not inform us of this decision?"

"Mom, Luke's stuff isn't even moved all the way in, we were going to tell you tomorrow."

"Luke isn't entirely moved in?"

Lorelai laughed. "Moving doesn't happen overnight."

"So I'm not the last to know?" Emily confirmed

"The town selectman doesn't know yet, and that's a feat," Lorelai replied, her voice cracking.

Emily's tone softened. "Well, I suppose I was being a little rash. We will excuse you from dinner tomorrow, Lorelai, but please ensure that you are fully recovered before you come back. Your father and I can't afford to be sick."

"Will do," Lorelai replied. "Thanks."

Luke watched as Lorelai hung up the phone. "And?" he asked.

Lorelai sighed, pulling the covers over her once again. "After a major meltdown about us starting to move some of your stuff over here, and her not being informed of it, she excused us from Friday night dinner."

"Wow," Luke said. "She was angry, then she told you not to come?"

"After I explained to her that she wouldn't be the last to know that you're moving in here, yes."

"She really has changed. Things are getting better between you two, huh?" he asked.

She nodded. "These past few months have been really hard on me, and I'm sure they haven't been easy on you either. So I guess we're all on the road to recovery. I mean, I miss Rory, but I've learned to deal with it better than I did before. I've learned not to take it out on you, or my mother. Marion Jones like strides there."

"I see," Luke replied.

"It's not going to be easy, but it's a start, you know?"

He nodded. "So, I was thinking that maybe if you're feeling better tomorrow…"

"We can go to the circus?" Lorelai giggled, sticking out her tongue.

Luke took off his baseball cap and scratched his head. "No."

Lorelai got out from under the covers of the bed. She crawled closer to Luke and put her head on his shoulder. "The beach?"

"What makes you think I'd let you go to the beach?"

"Okay then, we can do dirty things?"

"I was thinking I could rent a few movies and we could watch them here," Luke suggested, sidestepping her comment.

Lorelai sat up and reached for the box of tissues beside her. "Really?" she asked, sniffling and blowing her nose.

He nodded. "Sure. Why not?"

"I'd hate for you to be cooped up in the house all night, you're going to get sick," Lorelai insisted. "I sound like a sick duck, apparently." She tossed the tissue into the overflowing wastebasket by her bed. "And I probably look like a reindeer."

Luke shrugged. "I think I was the carrier. A kid at the diner about a week before you got sick was spreading his germs everywhere."

Lorelai laughed, clearing her throat. "Next time you may have to wear a mask, we'll play doctor."

"Ah, jeez," Luke said. "Maybe next time you should wash your hands."

"Where are my fishies?" Lorelai asked, crossing her arms.

Luke stood up. "I'll make some soup. Stay put," he ordered, tossing a magazine her way.

Lorelai opened the magazine and started to read. She was being treated so well over the time she was sick. She shook her head. What was she thinking? Luke always treated Lorelai well. As Luke became more and more important in her life once again, and in turn, more present in her house, she was finding it hard to remember what it was like without him.


	14. Take Me Now, Sailor

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who's been reading and reviewing so far. You're all fantastic! Please note the rating change for this story. I've added some stuff that may be pushing it for K+. Also, in this chapter, some dialogue is borrowed from "Written in the Stars". I still own nothing. Read on, reviews are appreciated!**

* * *

"Come to order everyone, please!" Taylor demanded, crossing his arms.

Lorelai looked to Luke and patted his knee. "You think you'll finally lose it and kick Taylor's ass today?"

Luke looked back at Lorelai. "I don't feel like going to jail today. So, no thanks."

Lorelai sighed. "I'm so weak, I need strength. I hear that laughter is the best medicine!" she insisted.

"Well, that just made your argument from last night completely invalid," Luke pointed out.

She snapped her fingers. "Drat," she hissed, turning her attention to the town meeting going on in front of her.

"Now, as you are all aware, there is an epidemic that seems to have struck Stars Hollow," Taylor began.

"Epidemic? You mean like the bird flu?" Babette asked.

"Or mad cow disease?" Kirk pressed.

Taylor sighed. "No, Kirk, no Babette, there is no foreign disease attacking the immune systems of our fine citizens. However, the number of sick days taken this year has nearly doubled over last year. Patty, would you please reveal the chart?"

Miss Patty obliged, obviously not taking any stock into what Taylor had to say at all. "That chart?" she asked.

He nodded. "Thank you. As you can see, the amount of people calling in sick from work due to the common cold is up nearly sixty percent this year. Lorelai, you're an example of that."

Lorelai groaned. "Taylor, this wasn't a common cold. I had strep throat, a sinus infection, and laryngitis. I'm still on antibiotics."

"All the more reason that we should take the necessary precautions to protect ourselves from a similar fate," Taylor warned.

Sookie sighed. "Come on, Taylor. Lorelai probably got sick from babysitting Davey and Martha that day you asked Jackson and I to speak at the culinary meeting last week. So technically, this is all because of you," she pointed out.

"It could have been from any one of us, technically," Lulu piped up. "School's been back in session for just enough time that I, too, could have been a carrier for poor Lorelai. Kids are always getting sick, Taylor, it's not their fault."

"That doesn't make Lorelai a diseased person," Brian added.

Zach nodded in agreement. "Dude, yeah, would you want us wearing like, doctor masks around you if you were sick, making you feel like a mondo freak?"

"It's a double standard," Andrew pointed out.

"Yeah, Taylor, you'd feel totally uncool if that happened to you," Morey insisted.

"People, people, this is not a free for all, you will be given the floor if you wish to speak," Taylor insisted. "And if you're all so against the legal measures, what I suggest is that the eating establishments in our town…"

Lorelai looked at Luke. The famous Luke vein looked as though it was ready to pop. "Here we go," she hissed under her breath.

Luke stood up. "Taylor, it's not my responsibility to make sure the people of this town wash their hands. I make sure they get fed. And I make sure that their food isn't tainted, spoiled, or disgusting. Who's to say that they'd use the stuff you'd make us provide, anyway? You'd be wasting money that you could put toward that stupid bridge that's always needing repairs."

A look of shock covered Taylor's face. "Luke, I thought you, of all people, would be for this."

"We aren't responsible for YOUR health," Luke said, motioning to the crowd gathered in Miss Patty's studio. "We aren't responsible for anyone else's health but ours and possibly that of our offspring. So, people, bottom line? Cover your mouths when you cough. Or better yet? Go back to first grade when the teacher begged you to cough into that little bend in your arm by your elbow. Wash your hands when you use the restroom or when you're sick. Throw your stupid tissues away, drink orange juice, and take a multivitamin. Oh, yeah, and don't sneeze on other people. Meeting adjourned," he insisted.

The crowd burst into applause and started to file out of Miss Patty's studio. Lorelai grabbed Luke's arm. "I feel like you defended my honor in there, my very own Sir Lancelot!"

"Well, Taylor pissed me off. I had to voice my opinion," he replied.

"You're touchy tonight," Lorelai said with a pout. "You got all dressed up, I got all dressed up, we were going to go out to dinner, and now you're cranky. Do we need to skip it?"

Luke shook his head. "No, no, I'm not skipping. I made reservations."

"At Sniffy's?" Lorelai asked, surprised. "I thought you had an 'in' with the mob there."

He chuckled slightly and looked at her, a small smile on his face. "It's a special occasion, I had to make sure it wouldn't be booked."

Lorelai grinned. "Every day's a special occasion with you lately."

"You remember what today is, I'm sure. I know you had no idea I'd even acknowledge it," Luke insisted.

She gasped, remembering exactly what she'd been trying not to think about all day. "It's… today's…"

"Jeez, I get all sappy on you for nothing?" he teased.

"No, no, I remember. Today's the anniversary of the day we met," she supplied quickly.

Luke nodded. "I'm glad I didn't have to cancel our plans, then."

"You actually remember the day we met?" Lorelai asked. "Not like I didn't expect you to, I just… I…"

"I remember everything about that day. I remember what you were wearing. You wore that mini skirt and the pink blouse," he replied.

"The blue one was at the cleaners," Lorelai replied.

"Now, quit making me feel like a sap, or I take it all away," he said with a wink.

They walked to Sniffy's and were greeted by an unfamiliar server who informed them that Maisy and Buddy were out of town. After ordering champagne, Luke looked at Lorelai and smiled. "What are you thinking about? I can see the smoke coming out of your ears."

"So we met at Luke's," she started.

He nodded. "It was at Luke's. It was at lunch. It was a very busy day. The place was packed. And this person—"

"Ooh! Is it me? Is it me? I remember this story, you're telling it the exact same way, it's me."

Luke ignored her. "This person comes tearing into the place in a caffeine frenzy."

Lorelai giggled. "That was me, I do remember the story."

"I was with a customer. She interrupts me, wild-eyed, begging for coffee, so I tell her to wait her turn. Then she starts following me around, talking a mile a minute, saying God knows what. So finally I turn to her, and I tell her she's being annoying, sit down, shut up, I'll get to her when I get to her," Luke continued.

Lorelai smiled. "You know, I happen to remember being very amenable to that idea," she replied.

"She asked me what my birthday was. I wouldn't tell her. She wouldn't stop talking. I gave in. I told her my birthday. Then she opened up the newspaper to the horoscope page, wrote something down, tore it out, handed it to me."

Lorelai waved her hand. "Well, I did pay the guy for the paper on my way out," she grumbled.

"So I'm looking at this piece of paper in my hand, and under 'Scorpio' she had written, 'You will meet an annoying woman today. Give her coffee and she'll go away.' I gave her coffee."

She looked down at the table. "But I still never went away," she said softly.

He shook his head. "She told me to hold on to that horoscope, put it in my wallet, and carry it around with me. One day it would bring me luck." He reached into his pocket, pulled out the horoscope as he had on that first night, and handed it over to her.

"You… kept this," she said incredulously. "Even after all that crap I put you through."

Luke sighed. "Eleven years," he said softly.

"Eleven years," Lorelai repeated. "You really kept this."

"I'm going to, uh, try this one again. Lorelai, this thing we're doing here -- me, you -- I just want you to know I'm in. I am all in."

Lorelai sighed. "You said that last time."

"I know. But this time? I'm still all in."

"And you asked me if I was scared."

Luke cleared his throat. "Are you? Scared, I mean?"

Lorelai shrugged. "Yes, and no."

"Interesting answer," Luke started.

Lorelai shuddered. "I'm scared as hell that I'm going to screw it up again. But the rest of it? Why should I be scared if it's right? And I know…" she took a deep breath. "This is right."

Luke smiled. "Well… that's good," he said awkwardly.

Lorelai couldn't stop thinking about how happy she was. Sure, it was under different circumstances, and sure, it was three years plus after they'd done it the first time, but Lorelai felt like it was the first time she'd gone out with Luke. It truly was the beginning of their fresh start. As Luke made conversation, Lorelai couldn't get a thought out of her head.

"Do I rub in the fact that I miss Rory too much? I haven't asked you if you missed April at all," Lorelai blurted.

Luke shook his head. "I've never been one to express my feelings about the subject anyway…" he said hesitantly.

Lorelai bit her lip, afraid to ruin the moment. "I just… I don't want to pretend that it's Sookie on the phone every time Rory calls."

"You didn't get that past me," Luke insisted. "And no, I don't want to pretend it's my bread guy on the phone, either."

"So, we agree? No more walking on eggshells? Let's just get this over with, no fights, let's be honest."

"It's a little easier if we're honest with each other," Luke agreed.

Lorelai picked up her champagne glass. "Here's to being honest with each other."

"I'll drink to that," Luke said, taking a small sip of the champagne.

Lorelai couldn't stop smiling the whole night. It was finally okay to express how much she missed Rory, and she didn't have to worry about offending Luke. Luke would be able to talk about April without trying to avoid the subject. They pulled up to the house and Lorelai got out of the car. As her heels clicked against the front steps, she suddenly realized that their anniversary had been completely one-sided. She hadn't even thought that Luke would have remembered the day they met, much less celebrate it. It was something he'd never done before, even the first time they were together.

"I didn't get you an anniversary present," Lorelai said, pouting. "I feel terrible."

"It's no big deal," Luke insisted, opening the front door. "I snuck this one up on you."

Lorelai sighed. "Well, I owe you. How can I make it up to you?"

"You want to make it up to me? Well, I have a few ideas," he insisted. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. He pressed his lips to hers, and slowly deepened the kiss as he started to reach for her sweater.

She pulled back. "You are a dirty boy," she said as she tried to catch her breath. "You wanted nothing to do with this a few hours ago."

"I'm an excellent actor," he quipped, pulling her close once again and leaning in for another kiss. Just as his lips brushed against hers, she leaned back.

"How do you know I wasn't onto you the whole time?" Lorelai winked, reaching for the top button of Luke's dress shirt.

Luke rolled his eyes. "Just shut up and go with it, will ya?" he whispered in her ear.

She giggled and allowed Luke to lead her up the stairs. "Well, we're awfully presumptuous, aren't we?" she teased.

"I don't see you protesting," he replied, a devilish grin forming on his face.

"Well, then, take me now, sailor," she teased. "Too bad you don't have a hat on, because I'd be taking it off your head and wearing it right now."

Luke chuckled. "And nothing else," he insisted, lifting her off the bottom stair and into his arms.

"Ooh, dirty!" she squealed as they made their way to the bedroom.


	15. Just Like Lucy and Ricky

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who's been reading and reviewing! Just to address the rating change, my last scene of the last chapter is as "T" as it's going to get. No more, I promise. Reviews are love!**

**Oh, and one more thing? Thank you to Reggie for helping me get past a road block for this chapter. I owe you an acrostic poem or perhaps a song this time. Oodles of love to you.**

* * *

"Please, Luke? None of Marilyn's other husbands were that good looking," Lorelai begged. "Put your Yankee hate aside for a second. Wasn't he like, a super good baseball player or something? I mean, he was in a Billy Joel song, for God's sake, that means he must have done something right."

Luke grunted. "I'm not being Joe DiMaggio to your Marilyn Monroe."

"How about… Brad to my Angelina?" she suggested.

"I can't stand the guy," Luke muttered. "And she has ugly lips."

Lorelai grinned, sitting up for a moment. She looked at Luke, leaned in, and kissed him. "You're the first straight guy I've ever met that denies her attractive lips."

"They look like balloon animals you want to pop," he continued. "And do they really need all those kids? Seriously, I bet the hired help takes care of them all the time."

Lorelai giggled. "Okay, so I'm not Angie. How about… Fred and Wilma? Aladdin and Jasmine?"

"How about 'in' to 'your dreams'?"

Lorelai groaned. "Please? Will you please, please, please dress up with me? I'd make an awesome Marilyn. I'd wear the white dress," she said, raising her eyebrows suggestively. "Or that blue getup that Jasmine wears…"

"No, Lorelai," he replied, feigning annoyance.

"Fine, fine. Since you refuse to be Joe to my Marilyn, you're Ricky to my Lucy," Lorelai insisted. "End of discussion. All you have to wear is a suit and slick back your hair a little. No Yankee paraphernalia."

"You torture me," Luke said, rolling his eyes.

"Hey, I'm not the one that decided to attend this Halloween party tonight," Lorelai said, snuggling closer to Luke and kissing him on the cheek. "You offered to go with me."

Luke sighed. "Even though it's only October 13th."

"Luke, you really have lost the little boy in you. We're going to bring him back. Oh, and you should be glad you consented to Ricky and Lucy. I made the costumes already."

"You're insane," Luke said, leaning in to kiss her.

"The feeling's mutual," Lorelai replied, putting her head on his chest. "What time is it?"

"Two," Luke insisted. "We haven't gotten out of bed all day."

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Yes, we did. We went from the bed to the shower to the bed again. Oh, and you made food. So bed, shower, bed, kitchen, bed. Let's go back to bed until the party," she suggested, closing her eyes. "Unless…"

"The party's at five," Luke replied quickly.

Lorelai laughed. "We have three hours to ourselves. Whatever shall we do?"

Luke sat up. "Well for one thing, we need to get out of bed."

Lorelai shook her head. "Nope. We're fine here until we start getting you ready, mister."

"Your costume is probably so much more complicated than mine, don't you think we should get you ready first?" Luke insisted.

She turned to him, smiling and shaking her head when the phone rang. She reached for the phone on the night table and opened it. "Hello?" she answered.

"Mom, hi," Rory said from the other line.

"Hey, Rory, how are you?" Lorelai asked, leaning her head against Luke's chest once again, preventing him moving out of bed. After all, he was going to have to eventually get over the fear of talking to anyone on the phone while he was naked, she reasoned in her head.

"I'm great, and you? You sound happy, like 'I just did something slutty' happy," Rory giggled.

Lorelai laughed. "I'll spare you. How's Barack? How's Mr. Hartford hottie?"

Rory grunted. "My relationship with Mr. Hartford hottie is nonexistent, and as for Barack? Down in the polls. My editor's been on my case to focus on the positive. But journalism, you know journalism is…"

Lorelai cut Rory off. "Unbiased and honest, right. But is there a certain level of respect you have to show your boss?"

Rory sighed. "It's a pickle. I'm in a pickle. It's a conundrum, a catch 22, rock and a hard place."

"Dirty," Lorelai replied.

"I miss you guys. Is it okay if I say hi to Luke really quickly? I have to be out of here in ten minutes, and I want to thank him for the care package he sent."

Lorelai sat up. "Sure, hang on one sec, okay?" She handed the phone to Luke and slipped out from under the covers. She reached for her bathrobe and slipped into it. "It's Rory. I'm going to grab the paper."

Luke took the phone and smiled as he put it to his ear. "Hey, Rory. How are you? Okay, shoot."

Lorelai walked down the stairs, opening the front door. As she opened the door, a bucket of water came pouring down on her, leaving her soaked in the chilly fall weather. She stood, shocked, looking up at the now empty bucket that had been rigged above her front door. Dripping wet, she stepped onto the porch and looked around. No one was there. This was obviously premeditated. She sighed. At least she could still shower before the party. Getting drenched in her costume would have been a nightmare.

As she abandoned the now soaked newspaper, she debated what to do next. She squeezed out her hair and walked back upstairs, just as Luke hung up the telephone.

"What happened to you?" he asked.

"Somebody put a bucket of water over the door," she grumbled. "It was a prank."

Luke tried to suppress a laugh as he slipped into his pajama pants and reached for a towel in the bathroom cabinet. "So I'm guessing you're going to need to shower again," he insisted.

"Seeing as how I smell like pond water, that's a great idea," Lorelai said, stepping into the shower and discarding her robe. "I just found seaweed in my hair."

Luke again tried to suppress a laugh. "You said pond water, not ocean water," he replied.

"Did you steal my loofah?" she asked.

"I did not steal your stupid sponge," Luke replied, putting Lorelai's phone back on her night table.

"It's missing," Lorelai muttered. "I think you stole it."

Luke sighed. "Who do you think did that water bucket trick?" Luke asked, opening a drawer and fishing through it.

Lorelai groaned. "There is no Gatsby-esque eye on this town, but someone probably saw it," she reasoned as she squeezed some shampoo into her hand and scrubbed her hair once again. "Ooh, THERE'S my loofah!"

"Or someone knows who did it," Luke replied. "And I told you I didn't steal your stupid sponge."

"It's a LOOFAH, Luke, for the hundredth time. And as for the water, it's a stupid prank. We know it's not Jess, because Jess's pranks were less… cliché. This one's so fourth grade at summer camp," Lorelai mused. "Jess's pranks were like... Scorsese films."

"You know it wasn't Jess because of the fact that he's not here," Luke pointed out. "And the analogy's stupid. Because they caused me a lot of grief."

She turned off the shower water. "I haven't seen him in awhile," she mused. "He should… you know, come back sometime."

"When I can get in touch with him again, I'll tell him you said that," Luke insisted.

Lorelai emerged from the shower, wrapped in a towel. "I'm glad you got a chance to talk to Rory."

He nodded. "Me too."

"I'm glad she called," Luke replied.

"She's really happy. It makes me okay with her being gone. Knowing that she's happy makes me feel okay about her being gone."

"Uh, yeah, of course," Luke said.

Lorelai squeezed out her hair. "Why, did she say something was wrong?"

"Actually…"

"Wait, wait, what's that noise?" Lorelai interrupted.

Luke listened and rolled his eyes. "I hear nothing."

"I hear something downstairs, Luke," she insisted.

Luke pulled on his t-shirt and went downstairs, with Lorelai following close behind, holding her towel together. He opened the front door to find Kirk, refilling the bucket that once held water, with maple syrup.

"Kirk?" Lorelai gasped.

Luke crossed his arms. "Kirk, get off our porch," he snarled.

"Fine. You caught me. But all I wanted was a little notoriety, you know? Something to be remembered by in this town," Kirk reasoned, almost whining.

Luke shook his head. "You have like, eight million jobs, I'm sure people will remember you. Now take that crap down and leave, or I'll tell Taylor."

"You won't tell on me?" Kirk asked, his eyes wide with surprise.

"If you don't pull any stunts on us again, I'll let everyone else be tortured by your saran wrap and toothpaste," Luke insisted.

Kirk nodded. "I just need to take the saran wrap out of some places in your cars."

"How'd he get our car keys?" Lorelai asked.

Luke rolled his eyes. "Ten minutes, Kirk," he barked.

"Yes, sir," Kirk replied, scampering off the porch with the bucket.

Luke shut the door and Lorelai smiled. "So you know what I was thinking just now?" she asked.

"There are millions of things you could be thinking, half of them dirty, and a quarter of them food related," Luke predicted.

Lorelai shook her head. "No, no, that's not what I was thinking. I was thinking in the other fourth of my brain."

Luke sat down on the couch. She sat down next to him and he wrapped his arm around her. "What's that?" he asked.

"You said 'our'," she grinned.

"Our…"

"Porch," Lorelai added.

"Was that a bad thing?" Luke asked.

She shook her head. "No, no, it just… that was nice. To hear."

"Well, good. It is our porch, after all," he said with a smirk.

Lorelai laughed. "You have this… 'I won' type of look on your face."

Luke raised his eyebrows. "I did win."

"Come on, Ricky, let's get you dressed," Lorelai said, pulling Luke by the hand.

"It's hours until the party," Luke pointed out.

Lorelai winked. "I'm just dying to see you in the suit," she admitted.

As she led Luke up the stairs, Lorelai started thinking back to something Rory had said to her a few years ago. Apparently Lorelai and Luke were like Gwen and Gavin. Lorelai thought about the ramifications of being Gwen to Luke's Gavin. Sure, the analogy fit. But as she opened the closet and pulled out Luke's suit for the party, Lorelai realized that she much preferred being just like Lucy and Ricky.

Sure, it was a throwback couple. Sure, they were nothing like them in reality. But it's the ultimate happiness Lorelai wanted, no matter how cheesy or cliché. She nodded. Just like Lucy and Ricky was much, much better.


	16. Popsicles and Precipitation

Lorelai shivered as she opened her eyes. Turning over to look at the clock, she took a deep breath. She smelled snow. She rubbed Luke's shoulder, almost shaking him. "Luke!" she whispered.

He turned over and groaned, opening just one eye. "Snow?" he asked, almost as if he had predicted it all along.

"Come on, it's going to start any minute," Lorelai insisted. She threw on a jacket and slipped on her sneakers, running out onto the porch. She looked up at the sky as she carefully stepped down each stair on her porch. "Luke!" she said, waving her arm.

He zipped up his jacket and looked up at the sky. "Nothing yet?" he asked sleepily.

She wrapped her arms around him. "Any minute now," she insisted.

The two stood in the middle of the front yard, just looking up at the sky. Lorelai tightened her grip on Luke and he pulled her close. "We have to make sure you stay warm, so you can actually see the snow before you turn into a human ice sculpture," Luke insisted.

"It won't be long. Any second," Lorelai said with a nod. Just as she finished her sentence, a few flakes began to fall. She gasped, taking in the beauty of the snow for just a moment. Letting out a small squeal, she looked up at Luke, grinning. "See?"

He nodded. "It's snowing," he confirmed.

"Snow… it's just so magical, you know? Everyone hates snow, but look at what it does to the town. It's like coating it in a magic dust. It makes everything just stop for awhile."

"You really do like snow," Luke replied.

"And I mean, everything good happens to me when it snows. Sure, we had a little bump in the road, but snow and I… we're on good terms. We have been for awhile. Which is really… a sign that things are good in my life. Rough winters with a lot of snow have been some of the best winters of my life. Last winter was a crappy year, and we didn't get too much snow," Lorelai continued.

He kissed her forehead and let go of her. "Is there some sort of snow dance you want to do? You know, like a cheer or a chant or something?"

She laughed. "No! I just like enjoying the sight of it, and I like you keeping me warm while I'm out here."

"Just making sure I was letting you do your thing, not interfering with a tradition," Luke continued.

Lorelai looked at the white powdery snow that was falling around her. She looked back at Luke, giving him a half smile, and tilted her head. "You know, uh, Rory and I used to go on walks. I just… don't want to do it without her. It doesn't seem right."

"You want to call her?" Luke asked. "And that way you can walk with her on the phone?"

"No, I know she's sleeping. I'm not sad or anything, I just… feel like a part of me's missing. And that's okay, she's out in the world, doing what she wants to do… and I'm happy for her. This is what she wanted, Luke."

"She's doing a good job," Luke agreed. "She's a natural."

"I miss her, but this is good too. Replacing old traditions isn't right. Supplementing them with new ones is the way to go, right?" she asked.

"As long as you're happy," Luke said with a smile, pulling her close again.

Lorelai looked up at Luke. "Okay, so why are you being so nice to me?"

"What?" Luke asked, the tone in his voice changing.

"Normally you'd be telling me how crazy I am, and now you're just… standing here, letting me be crazy and you're not protesting. You haven't shivered once," Lorelai pointed out.

Luke pulled away from Lorelai. "Whoa, where'd the firing squad come from?"

"It's just… not like you, Luke." She crossed her arms and tilted her head. "I don't want to ruin the moment, but Luke, you're not acting like Luke."

He rolled his eyes. Lorelai could tell by his body language that a rant was coming, and it was coming fast. "Lorelai, of course you're acting crazy. You're the most insane woman I know. I've never met another person besides you or Rory that feels the need to separate the ketchup and the mustard because the mustard has an inferiority complex. I've never met someone who will get up in the middle of the night to watch it snow, despite the risk of getting frostbite. But you know, I was just thinking, all of these things that make you crazy are the reasons why I love you, damn it!"

Lorelai bit her bottom lip. He loved her. He said it, and it didn't matter if it was by accident or on purpose, he said it. She looked up at the sky and looked back at Luke. She threw her arms around him, nearly knocking him over in the process, and kissed him. She finally pulled back, watching his reaction.

"Wow," Luke said.

"I love you too."

Luke stood for a moment and tried to catch his breath, and Lorelai watched, grinning the entire time. He came toward her once again, initiating another kiss. "I've loved you since the moment I saw you, despite how crazy you are."

She giggled. "And I've waited so long to say that to you again. Wow, it feels so good to get that out there. I love you, you love me, it's out, it's there, it makes this real, Luke."

"Makes it real?" he asked.

Lorelai nodded. "We did it. We made it past all the crap we had to go through, and to hear you say that, just… wow."

"It was nice to hear it back," Luke agreed. "I heard it that one time you said it… but, you know, that was…"

"You're the world's biggest sap. You know that?" Lorelai interrupted.

"I've heard rumblings," he replied with a shrug.

"All right, I've had enough of standing out in the cold," Lorelai said, pulling Luke by the arm.

"You're done staring at the snow? Already?" he asked.

Lorelai laughed. "Fine, don't take my extremely subtle offer to get warmed back up in bed."

"You have one of the dirtiest minds," Luke said, shaking his head.

She playfully punched him in the arm. "You're a dirty boy, too, don't pretend you're all innocent in this. Take me upstairs."

"Can't say no to that," Luke said, letting her pull him inside. She stopped at the doorway, shivering slightly as she took one last look at the accumulating snow.

"You okay?" Luke asked.

Lorelai nodded. "Yeah, I just wanted to get one last look."

"It's okay to miss her, you know. You two had a snow thing going on," Luke said.

She shook her head. "No, no, I can't… I can't think about it right now."

"Come here," Luke said, pulling her into a hug.

"I ruined it. I should have just gone upstairs, and just forgotten about it. I ruined the moment. I'm being so stupid, again, Luke. I'm the world's biggest baby," Lorelai said, holding back tears.

Luke gently rubbed her back. "It's okay," he reassured her.

"No, it's not…"

"Lorelai, it's okay. You put on a front of being okay in front of everyone else, and if you can't be upset in front of me, you're going to explode one of these days," he insisted.

She pulled back, using her sweater to wipe her eyes. "Thank you. I feel really stupid, but I feel better."

"Don't," Luke said. "Come on inside, I don't want you to become a popsicle."

"Can I be a banana popsicle?" she squeaked.

Luke sighed. "The point is to avoid you becoming a popsicle at all costs."

"But if I were a popsicle, would you be the popsicle attached to me? Like a pair?"

He rolled his eyes. "Sure. Now come on, shut the door, it's not even packing snow. I'll make you some coffee since I know you won't be able to sleep."

She took a deep breath and turned to shut the door, but not before taking one last look outside. "She loves the fluffy snow."


	17. False Alarm

Lorelai was pulled out of a deep sleep when the telephone rang. For a few moments, she refused to move, just letting the phone ring. The person on the other end hung up, and Lorelai closed her eyes again. Luke hadn't even moved, so why should she? The phone rang once again, and she groaned. She blindly reached for the phone and mumbled an unintelligible greeting to the person on the other end. "It's 4:30," she grumbled.

"Lorelai, the inn!" Michel's frantic voice said from the other line.

She sat up, rubbing her eyes. "Michel, what's wrong?"

"The fire alarms are going off, everyone has been evacuated," Michel continued, his accent becoming thicker with each word. "We need you to come, quickly!"

His words sent Lorelai into panic mode. She hung up on Michel, violently shaking Luke as her tears began to fall. "Luke! Luke, wake up!" she begged. Her head was spinning and her heart was going a mile a minute. She tripped on her way out of bed, causing Luke to sit up.

"It's 4:30 on a Saturday morning," Luke said.

"The inn's fire alarms are going off," Lorelai spat out, trying to slip on her shoes and choking on her words. "They evacuated everyone." She didn't want to believe it. This was the inn, HER inn, everything she'd worked for. And it could all potentially be going down in flames. She had no idea what was going on, but the dizziness she was feeling surely told her that things weren't good. "Oh, god, Luke, this can't be happening. I feel sick, this isn't right, this isn't right!" she cried.

It wasn't right, she kept telling herself. The inn she'd spent most of her life at was gone, this couldn't be happening again. Thoughts of the worst kept running through her head. Her life was starting to get back on track, and she was happy. This couldn't be happening. Not to her. She'd had her share of bad things that happened to her. She was done, it was her turn to be happy.

At least, that's what she thought.

"It will all be okay, let's go see what's going on," Luke said, tossing the covers to the side.

Luke got out of bed, and helped Lorelai down the stairs. Before Lorelai knew it, they were pulled up in front of the Dragonfly, which was still standing and had no smoke coming out that Lorelai could see. Lorelai ran up to Chief Baker, trying her hardest to remain composed. "What's going on?" she asked.

Chief Baker smiled. "Don't worry, Lorelai, it was just a false alarm. Something must have went wrong with the alarm system, everyone's safe, your inn is safe."

Lorelai took a deep breath for the first time since she woke up that morning. Her inn was fine. She was finally able to relax. She politely thanked Chief Baker and found Michel. This time he seemed just as concerned as she was. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Michel nodded. "The stupid sprinklers went off in the lobby. There was no flood damage, but the carpets will need to be cleaned."

"Authorize it," Lorelai said with a nod. "Thanks for calling me."

"You also owe me four hundred dollars for a new pair of shoes," Michel insisted.

"Good night Michel," Lorelai said, rolling her eyes.

"Good night, Lorelai," Michel grumbled, making his way back into the inn.

She walked back to Luke, hugging him and bursting into tears as he pulled her close. "I tried to protect it," she cried.

"The inn's still here, Lorelai, no one was hurt. At least you know the alarm system works now," Luke said, trying to comfort her.

Lorelai continued to cry. "I need to protect the inn. We need more insurance, or fireproofing, or something."

"Let's get you home," Luke said, opening the door to the truck and helping Lorelai inside.

Lorelai sighed. "I couldn't protect Paul Anka from getting sick, I couldn't protect Rory from getting hurt in her life, and now I can't even protect my own inn," she said softly.

"Lorelai," Luke started.

She didn't say a word. Luke couldn't argue, she told herself. She couldn't believe this was happening to her. It was another one of those glaring signs of how much she'd tried in her life, but bad things still happened to her.

Luke turned to Lorelai as he pulled into the driveway. "Okay, uh, come on inside, we'll talk, okay?"

Lorelai sniffed, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "I acted like a total idiot out there."

"Is everything okay?" Luke asked, sitting down on the couch. "You've been running yourself ragged lately. You're not yourself anymore, you're way too stressed out. Lorelai, you can't protect everyone and everything in your life from harm."

Lorelai shook her head. She knew everything wasn't okay. Things had been a little crazy since their anniversary dinner. Lorelai had conference after conference booked at the inn, and Luke's business was booming as well. They'd barely had time to see each other, minus the snow moment the night before. Through all the craziness, she kept pushing every worry she had to the back of her mind, just to keep functioning again. It's how she dealt with Rory's absence, which weighed on her even more with the closeness of Thanksgiving. It's how Lorelai dealt with everything in her life.

"It's just… hard, you know? You think of everyone else and then sometimes you forget to think about yourself," Lorelai started. "But I want to protect it all. I want to protect Rory, I want to protect the inn, and I want to protect us."

Luke put his hand on her knee. "What's wrong? Something's bothering you."

"I'm late," she blurted out, looking at Luke for a reaction.

He stared back at her for a minute, clearing his throat, before he took a deep breath and tried to string a sentence together. "How… late?"

"A week and two days," Lorelai replied. "I just… everything got so crazy, and I figured that it was stress, you know, and here we are, a week plus later, and… nothing," she said, sniffling again.

Luke pulled her closer and let her cry on his shoulder. "It's okay," he said, trying to reassure her. "If it happens, it happens. We can do this."

"You're okay with this?" Lorelai asked, her speech muffled.

Luke nodded. "We're going to be okay," he insisted. "Do you want to…"

"There's one upstairs," Lorelai said, sniffling. "I bought one yesterday."

"Well, you could…"

"I'll take it now," Lorelai added, completing Luke's sentence. She slowly got up off the couch and then sat down again. "What if…"

Luke took Lorelai's hand, startling her. "Let's not do that yet. Let's find out first and then we'll talk, okay?"

"Jeez, you've got ice in your veins, don't you?" Lorelai mumbled. "What's making you all 'que sera, sera'?"

Luke shrugged. "We both wanted it eventually, right? If eventually becomes sooner than we anticipated, there's nothing we can do about it. I'm not going anywhere."

She nodded. "Well, uh, good," she replied, disappearing into the bathroom. She emerged a few minutes later with her arms crossed. "I didn't look at it yet. From what I remember you have to, you know, let it fester or something. What's the cooking term for it? Let it stand? Whatever, you have to let it do its thing. And that's what I'm doing. It's doing its thing, and I'm doing mine, and uh, you're doing yours, so we've done it all right so far."

"You okay?" Luke asked.

Lorelai shrugged. "I just… either way I'm going to feel weird about this. If it turns out that I am pregnant, it's going to be great, but it's going to take some adjusting to the idea. Not bad adjusting, by any stretch of the imagination, but we're going to have to make arrangements we just weren't thinking about making right yet."

"Right," Luke agreed tentatively, pausing to hear the second part of what Lorelai had to say.

She continued to pace by the bed. "And if I'm not… then of course I'll be a little sad, because the thought was there, and all of a sudden, it would be gone. So either way, I'll be upset. But either way we could also be happy. The reasons are obvious."

"Yeah," Luke replied, running his hand through his hair.

Lorelai motioned toward the bathroom, and picked up the test. She looked at Luke, shaking her head. "False alarm," she said, tossing the test in the small trash can next to the toilet.

"Really?" he asked.

She nodded. "I think this whole day's been a false alarm. Should we just go back to sleep and see if we can make it better?"

Luke stood up, nodding. "That sounds like a good idea."

Lorelai kicked off her shoes, got under the covers, and reached for the lamp. She stopped mid reach and looked at Luke. "Are you secretly bummed like I am?"

He shrugged. "A little. But this isn't our only opportunity."

"It will happen eventually," Lorelai said with a nod. "We weren't ready."

"Nah," Luke said.

Lorelai shut off the light and kissed Luke's cheek. She pulled the covers up to her ears and tried to calm down enough to get some sleep. She sighed. The inn was safe, Luke was still there, and Rory was still Rory. Everything was still standing in her life, it was all a false alarm.

She finally fell asleep, thankful for the false alarms to give her a little perspective in her life.


	18. Super Lorelai

As winter took over Stars Hollow, the inn became busier and busier. Lorelai was spending less and less time at home and more time at work, and all that was getting her by was Rory's return to Stars Hollow for Thanksgiving.

Lorelai often found herself thinking about Thanksgiving when Michel babbled on about nothing, or when a guest became irate and contested a bill. She had the picture in her mind's eye. She, Rory, and Luke at the kitchen table in the Crap Shack, eating and being together. She could even smell the imaginary turkey.

As a guest stood in front of her, waving a bill in her face, she tried her best to think of Thanksgiving. It was a mantra of sorts, an escape. She sighed, and smiled at the man, taking his bill and moving to the computer to take off the disputed charge as the phone rang.

"Dragonfly Inn, Lorelai speaking," she answered, placing the phone between her shoulder and her ear.

Rory's voice came from the other line. "Don't freak out," she warned as a way of greeting.

Lorelai handed the man his credit card and waved politely as he walked out of the inn, seemingly satisfied. "Oh, don't tell me you got that tattoo of Richard Gere," she teased.

"Mom, I'm serious," Rory replied.

Lorelai straightened up, gathering her hair in her fist and pulling it to one side. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Rory started. "But I don't want you to get angry."

"What could possibly have happened that I would get angry about?"

Rory sighed. There was a long pause. "I can't come home for Thanksgiving."

The words hit Lorelai like a ton of bricks. She cleared her throat and swallowed, forcing herself to sound okay with the idea, despite the fact that her utopian Thanksgiving was ripped away. Thinking about what to say, she hoped she didn't sound like she was lying. "Oh, sweets, I'm not mad."

"You're not?"

Lorelai shook her head. "Not at you, at least. I'm mad at the British for losing the war, and thereby causing your inability to come home for Thanksgiving because of the political system we have adopted as Americans."

"You're really okay with this?" Rory asked.

"I'm fine," Lorelai said. "Really. We'll miss you, but it will be okay."

"I really wanted to be there," Rory offered.

Lorelai looked down at the floor and then at Michel, who was inspecting the cuff of his suit jacket. "I know, sweets, but you're living the dream now, you've got the perfect job, and hey, you're officially a grown up. These things happen in grown up land. They don't warn you that in the 'how to be a grown up and not enjoy it in the slightest' class."

"But I didn't pass the test," Rory teased. "How could they make me be a grown up? They shouldn't have promoted me."

"Ah, they shouldn't have promoted you, and I still should never have had faith that "Gigli" would have done well in the box offices. You can always come home and let Mommy take care of you again," Lorelai offered.

"I miss you, Mom," Rory said. "I needed the break."

As Lorelai opened her mouth to say more, Sookie came out of the kitchen, flailing her arms and starting to vent about a dish that wasn't coming out properly. Lorelai held up her hand, and Sookie nodded, starting to pace in front of the desk.

"Well, sweets, Sookie's about to dig into the basement of the inn with all the pacing she's doing, I should probably make sure she's okay," Lorelai insisted.

Rory sighed. "Will I talk to you tonight?"

"I'm working late again, but catch me if you can."

"I hate that we keep missing each other," Rory replied.

Lorelai sighed. "Story of my life. Chat later, okay? I'm not mad."

"Okay," Rory grumbled.

"Bye, sweets," Lorelai said, hanging up the telephone and walking around the desk. She absentmindedly pulled at the hem of her blouse, watching as Sookie slowly moved into full blown panic mode. Lorelai followed Sookie into the kitchen, poured herself a cup of coffee, and just listened. Not five seconds of silence passed before Sookie began to rant.

"The lasagna tonight, no one told me it was supposed to be vegetarian!" Sookie blurted, her arms outstretched. "I almost fed carnivore lasagna to the veggie convention. Lorelai, this is bad. I'm losing it."

"Sookie," Lorelai said. "The main thing is that you fixed it. And you lost it a long time ago," she teased.

Sookie nodded. "I know, but I had to change the whole meal around. There was almost a crisis similar to the Spice Girls breakup!"

"Sook, once Ginger posed nude, those girls were downhill," Lorelai started. "Everyone knew it was coming."

"My point is that I almost ruined my career!" Sookie cried, putting her hand to her forehead. "I am officially a loon. Call the men in the white shirts to take me away and make sure my straitjacket looks secure, 'cause I'm getting committed."

"Sookie!" Lorelai shouted, putting her hands on her best friend's shoulders.

Sookie snapped her head to look at Lorelai. "What?" she wailed.

"Take a breath, calm down. We're all fine, the vegetarians got veggie lasagna, and no other 90's boy band members have come out of the closet today. Let's put things in perspective here, okay?"

"Okay, you're right," Sookie said, sighing. "Who was that on the phone?"

Lorelai shrugged. "Rory. She's having a stressful week, I'm having a stressful week, we've just been missing each other."

"But you'll see her soon," Sookie offered.

Putting a hand to her forehead, Lorelai looked at Sookie. "She uh, can't make it to Thanksgiving."

Sookie stopped. "Oh, hon, here I was, babbling about lasagna…"

Lorelai shook her head. "It's… okay," she said. "I have to go check in the Johnson family for that big reunion party," she said, motioning toward the door.

Sookie smiled sympathetically. "Let me know if you want to talk."

After Lorelai checked in the Johnsons, booked three rooms for a week in May, and gave some midyear evaluations, she stopped to look at the clock. It was ten thirty and she was still at the inn. Luke had closed up the diner by that point, Lorelai was sure. But she couldn't bring herself to go home. That would cause disaster. She missed Luke, but she also missed Rory. Keeping busy with work would surely allow her not to think about either.

Bending down, Lorelai cleared a shelf of stray papers behind the desk. They were in no order, they were probably not important, but Lorelai was running out of things to do. She got about halfway through the stack, placing the papers in haphazardly made piles on the floor when she saw a pair of work boots standing in front of her. She looked up to find Luke standing there. He looked concerned, and she offered him a polite smile.

"You're still here?" Luke asked.

"All in a day's work," Lorelai insisted.

"Fourteen hour days? For the past two weeks? Aren't you exhausted?"

Lorelai remained on the floor and continued to sort through the piles of paper. "You know how it goes, you sacrifice."

"You're burning both ends of the candle, Lorelai," Luke said, taking a seat next to her.

"It's what I do," she said, moving a pile of papers so Luke could sit.

"Is this about the false alarm a couple of weeks ago?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No."

"Because you seemed…"

"Luke, everything's fine," Lorelai interrupted, slightly agitated.

He sighed. "You know you don't have to be Super Lorelai, you hired perfectly competent people to help you out."

"It's not fair, Luke. This time of year is not fun anymore," she started. "I mean, I don't have Rory here for the first snow of the year, and now she calls me and says she won't be coming home for Thanksgiving? How else am I supposed to react? This is what I do."

"You mentioned that," Luke said dryly.

"This is how I survive," she continued. "If I stopped to do anything but sleep, I'd think about what I'm missing out on. And I can't afford that. I've been a Niagra Falls of tears for way too long. I have to face it, Rory's grown up, she has a job, and she doesn't need me anymore."

"She'll always need you," Luke said, trying to console her.

Lorelai sighed. "I know, but she doesn't NEED me. You know what that's like. I just throw myself into my work because that's how I make sense of my life."

"I'm here too, you know. We haven't seen each other for more than an hour since… about a month and a half ago. Was that why you suddenly got so busy and so overwhelmed?" he asked.

"Well, yeah, how else was I supposed to react?"

"Lorelai, I know it's hard not having Rory here. But don't force yourself to work overtime every day to keep your mind off of it. There's other things you can do," he insisted.

"I refuse to get all emotional about this," she insisted.

"No one said you couldn't," Luke replied.

"Luke," Lorelai started.

He held up his hand. "Ah, jeez, Lorelai, you're not fooling me. You've cried on my shoulder many a time. Before we were together, while we were dating, and after we broke up, and that doesn't change now. No one said you had to deal with this in a certain way."

"I have to…"

Luke rolled his eyes. "You have to do what you feel like doing. But what you definitely can't do is sit here until the sun comes up and try to find busywork for yourself until you see Rory next."

"Well, then, what's your suggestion?"

"Come home," Luke insisted.

Lorelai shook her head. "I can't."

"Come home," Luke repeated.

She looked into his eyes. She missed him, and it was clear that he missed her, even though he wasn't expressing it.

"Why do you have to be so convincing?" she asked/

"Come on, let's get you home," he said, helping her up and placing the papers back on the shelf.

"Luke?"

Luke looked at Lorelai. "You're welcome," he said, pulling her close to him as they walked back to the Crap Shack.


	19. Trouble in Paradise

"Happy Turkey Day," Rory said cheerfully into the phone.

Lorelai grinned, sliding off the stool at Luke's and walking out the front door. "And same to you. How are you?"

Rory sighed. "I'm doing okay. I'd much rather be in Stars Hollow."

"Will you be adequately fed today? Because if you won't be, I'm going to have to kidnap you," Lorelai insisted.

"They're taking us to a huge restaurant. Buffet style meal, turkey, mashed potatoes, and all of the Thanksgiving staples," she answered. "And kidnap me? Will you have your own theme music to pull this off?"

"I'm debating between 'Sexy Back' and 'I'm too Sexy For My Shirt'," Lorelai explained.

Rory giggled. "Well, you get the Justin Timberlake stigma there or the Right Said Fred stigma. Both a little scary in their own right."

Lorelai looked in the window of Luke's, watching Luke wipe down the counter vigorously. She cringed, knowing that her coffee had left a ring on the counter that Luke would have a hard time cleaning up. "Okay, ix nay the theme songs I chose, got it. But thank god it's a buffet, you wouldn't be able to survive with only one Thanksgiving dinner," she said with a wave of her hand.

"That's right! Are you guys making the rounds this year?"

She looked in the window once more, catching Luke's eye and raising her eyebrows suggestively. He rolled his eyes and walked back into the kitchen. "We aren't this year. Lane and Zach wanted to try Thanksgiving with Mrs. Kim as a family this year, Sookie's too exhausted with the whole cooking for everyone in the universe thing. It's snowing so we won't drive to your grandparents' since the roads have frozen. I'm glad I did the snow dance for that one. So, it's just me and Luke."

"I haven't done the snow dance in years," Rory said with a laugh.

"Luke didn't find it as amusing as you, but the fact that I could smell the snow coming says something," Lorelai said, grinning. "You getting snow there?"

Rory sighed. "Nope, of course not. They've decided to take every single ounce of fun away from me."

"Are you okay? You sound a little down about it," Lorelai pressed.

"No, I just… I feel bad for not being home."

"I told you, it's okay," Lorelai insisted. "I promise we'll make turkey at Christmas and celebrate both in one day. Luke agreed to it."

"Luke's a good guy. How are things in that department?"

Lorelai grinned. "He's amazing. We're doing really well. I like how things are going, we're meshing well. Luke likes living in the Crap Shack, and I like having him as my very own pool boy."

"Dirty, and you don't even have a pool," Rory said.

Lorelai shrugged, shoving her hand into her coat pocket. "Not yet, someday, I will."

"Well make sure to wear sunscreen while you watch Luke clean your pool filters."

"I shall. Are you off to the buffet yet?"

"I have to put on some makeup and then we're off," Rory replied.

Lorelai looked down at her feet, shifting her weight and leaning against the wall. "Okay, sweets, well, call me later, after the dinner?"

"I'll try," Rory said softly. "I'm not sure what they have planned for us."

"No pressure," Lorelai said, reaching for the door handle. "Bye, sweets."

"Bye, Mom. Eat a lot for me."

"Always," Lorelai insisted, snapping her phone shut and dropping it into her pocket. She shivered as she sat at the counter again, blowing into her fist and rubbing her hands together.

"You're inside," Luke grumbled, handing her a cup of coffee.

Lorelai took a sip, sighing as she placed the cup back on the counter. She took off her hat and ran her fingers through her hair, ensuring that her hair wouldn't tangle. Putting her chin in her hands, she cleared her throat. "So I just got off the phone with Rory."

"Oh, yeah?" Luke asked.

Lorelai nodded, running her finger across the rim of the chipped blue coffee mug. She looked up at Luke and let out a heavy sigh. "I think she's upset about not being able to come home. I don't hear the same happiness in her voice as I did when she first left. Luke, I see trouble in paradise for her."

"Maybe she's homesick," Luke offered.

She shook her head, rubbing her arm absentmindedly. "No, I think it's more than that. I think she's questioning. Has she sounded upset when you've talked to her?"

Luke shrugged. "She mentioned maybe being a little homesick and a little unsure."

"What? When? Why? She didn't tell me this!" Lorelai spat, throwing her hands in the air. "Homesick, absolutely, but unsure? What do you mean, unsure?"

He walked around the counter. "Rory's not sure if the decision she made was the right one. She begged me not to tell you. I didn't want to break the trust thing we had going, but I didn't want to make anyone upset."

Lorelai shook her head. "No, no, I'm not mad at you. I just wish she would have told me."

"She said something about not wanting to tell you until she was sure," Luke explained. "She was questioning and wanted unbiased advice."

"I'll talk to her later, I have to. That's not fair for me to leave her hanging," Lorelai explained. "I won't mention you though. Did she say if she had any plans?"

"Rory mentioned getting advice from someone, she didn't say who, but I think it's that guy she's seeing on the trail. He told her to talk to me, which I found a little… odd, because he doesn't know me, but then again, I assume Rory's told him about us," Luke started. "So she talked to me, and said that she wanted to do the Courant. Which is her choice, but you didn't hear it from me. She said she felt bad for putting you through the separation for so long for her to just come home and not stick it out."

Lorelai looked at Luke. "I would never fault her for trying something new."

"Don't tell me, tell her," Luke said, shrugging.

She leaned in and kissed Luke. "Okay. So are you closing up now? My stomach is getting snippy with me."

"As soon as Kirk and Lulu finish," Luke said.

Lorelai glanced over at the couple, eating dinner by the window. "They're cute together, don't you think?"

Luke shrugged. "Sure they are."

"I'm curious as to when Kirk's going to take things to the next level. I know he moves at the speed of molasses, but they've been together for a long time now."

"Ask Patty or Babette, they may know," Luke said, carefully counting the money in the register.

"You're not fun to gossip with," Lorelai said, crossing her arms. She looked over at Kirk and Lulu. They'd been together for longer than she and Luke had been, even if the separation hadn't occurred. She'd just gotten word that the divorce was final, and she found herself wondering where her relationship would go now that there were no obstacles.

"Get your coat on," Luke grumbled, walking over to Kirk and Lulu and taking their empty plates.

Lorelai grinned. "Yay," she said, throwing her coat on and gripping the door handle. She pulled the door open for Kirk and Lulu as they exited. "Happy Thanksgiving, come again."

"Patience is a virtue, you know," Luke started.

"That I do not possess," Lorelai interrupted. "Come on, I just want to be thankful with you."

"Just because it's Thanksgiving, that doesn't mean you get to make up dirty codes for things," Luke insisted.

She giggled. "I am such a dirty birdie. You haven't heard my gravy joke, or my baster joke. Keep in mind it's only four in the afternoon."

"Oh, jeez," Luke said, walking out the door and ensuring that it was locked.

"I've been storing the references," Lorelai said, grabbing Luke's hand and swinging their joined hands back and forth enthusiastically.

"You're insane," Luke grumbled.

She looked at Luke. "I love this time of year. I get like a little kid."

"You act like a little kid the majority of the year," Luke replied.

"You wouldn't have it any other way," she said, giggling as they approached the driveway of the Crap Shack. She stopped short, looking at the front steps. Glancing at Luke, back at the steps, and at Luke again, her jaw dropped. "Is that…"

"Jess," Luke confirmed.

Lorelai walked up to the front steps to find Jess huddled up, his dark hair and his trademark leather jacket covered in snow. "Jess? Is that you?" she asked.

"In the flesh," he said, the warmth of his breath creating a white cloud in the air as he spoke.

"How long have you been sitting there?" she asked.

"Since I stopped looking for the frog, or the turtle, or dolphin, or whatever sea creature you used to keep that stupid key in," Jess huffed.

"You couldn't find it?" Lorelai asked.

Jess shook his head, grabbing his bag off of the step. "Gave up after digging through a couple of snow banks."

"We just moved it around the back," Lorelai said, opening the front door. "What are you doing here? Luke, anything to add here?"

Luke shrugged. "I was just going to ask the same thing."

"Rory told me she might come home for Thanksgiving. She mentioned that she was having a rough time on the trail, and I figured I'd come and make sure things were okay."

"She couldn't make it home," Lorelai replied. "Here, let me take your jacket."

Luke motioned for Jess to follow him inside, and Jess followed. "You came home to see Rory?"

"Well, she passed through Philadelphia and we went out to dinner, and she voiced some concerns. I just wanted to be here to see your reaction," Jess said with a smirk.

"You know she's seeing someone, right?" Luke pressed. "Are you trying to start something up again?"

Jess shook his head. "Relax, I know she's seeing someone. I just wanted to come by and make sure she was okay, that's all."

"Well, the least you could do is stay for dinner," Luke said, walking into the kitchen and opening the refrigerator.

Jess started to follow, but Lorelai pulled him gently by the arm into the foyer once again. "All right, Danny Zuko, stay here for a minute, will ya?"

He stopped in his tracks, looking awkwardly at Lorelai. "What's with the 'Grease' reference?"

"I just wanted to talk for a second. You can stop preparing to duel," Lorelai reassured him. "I just, you know, wanted to let you know that it was nice of you to come here and make sure Rory was okay."

"No problem," Jess said, making a beeline before the kitchen.

Lorelai reached out and grabbed his arm again. "Not so fast, Speedy. I'm calling a truce, here," she continued. "You turned out okay, you've done well. And I wanted to tell you that. You deserve to hear it."

"Huh," Jess said, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

"What?" Lorelai replied.

"I just… wasn't expecting a compliment from you," he replied, rocking back on his heels.

"Well, it was… a little overdue," she started. "So are we good?"

"We're not going to have to wear matching charm bracelets or anything, right?"

Lorelai shook her head. "I don't think the one I would choose would match your eyes."

"Well, then, I guess we're good," Jess replied with a nod as he made his way into the kitchen. "Thanks for letting me eat some of your food. I know how you are with that stuff."

"It's no problem. Luke has to make enough for three, so I can have the extravagant portions I'm used to," Lorelai said with a smile.

"You had me feeling guilty for a second there, I see where Rory gets her ability to manipulate," Jess grumbled.

"Thank Emily Gilmore for that one," Lorelai muttered, walking into the kitchen behind Jess. Jess Mariano had come to make sure Rory was okay. Part of Lorelai was surprised, and the other part of her truly wasn't. Jess had always cared for Rory, but it took some growing up on Jess's part, and maybe a little on Lorelai's, to realize that Jess and Rory could be good friends.

Lorelai made a mental note to discuss it when Rory came home. The list of items to discuss was getting longer and longer, it seemed.


	20. Wonderboy at Bat

Lorelai woke up to the sound of the door slamming followed by some muffled curse words. As soon as she realized why he was up so early on his day off, she felt compelled to get up. It was Luke's dark day, and she was going to try to make the day a little less difficult for him. She rolled out of bed and walked downstairs, opening only one eye. "Luke?" she croaked. "It's four thirty, come back to bed."

"I… didn't mean to uh, wake you," Luke said softly. "I just went…"

She shook her head. "No need to explain. Come back to bed."

"I'll be up in a second," he said, clearing his throat.

Lorelai nodded, walking back up the stairs. She pulled the sheets back and crawled under the covers, closing her eyes in an attempt to go back to sleep. She had started to doze off again when she felt Luke's arm wrapped around her waist. She turned over. "You okay?" she asked.

"I'm okay," he said. "I stopped by the diner to make sure Caesar opened… I'm not going to work today."

"No one expected you to," Lorelai replied. "It's okay. I'm not going anywhere, but if you want me to…"

"No, uh, here's fine," Luke insisted. "It might be nice to have someone to talk to."

She smiled, leaning over for a kiss. "Get some sleep, okay?"

"I'll try," Luke agreed.

Lorelai turned over and closed her eyes. She hated when Luke's dark day came around. It was hard for her, because she couldn't do anything to help him. Jokes certainly weren't appropriate at the time, and she couldn't bring his dad back, so she felt helpless too.

She fell asleep and woke up several hours later to the sunshine pouring into the window. Her first instinct was to roll over and see if Luke was still there, but the sound of the shower water draining indicated otherwise. Stretching and letting out a yawn, she scratched her head and took a look at the clock. It was only nine in the morning, and Luke still had a long day ahead of him.

Resisting the urge to crawl back under the covers and drift off to sleep again, she reached under the bed, pulling out a plastic tote box full of supplies she had collected for the day. Lorelai placed them on the bed, fumbled around for her slippers, and trudged downstairs to start the coffeepot. She was planning on keeping Luke barricaded in the room all day, unless he didn't want to be stuck with her.

The only thing she felt like she could do was be there for Luke if he wanted to talk. The baseball movies she had collected would only encompass part of their day, and she was fairly certain that she could try to convince him to eat the meat lover's pizza she had planned on ordering later, but the most important part of her mission was to ensure Luke's peace of mind.

Walking upstairs with the coffee, she thought about what she would do if Luke wasn't thrilled with her idea of the relaxing day she had hoped for. There was always the inn, but her mind would be on Luke the whole time. She sighed, hoping he would allow her to be there for him the only way she knew how.

Lorelai placed the coffee mug on the night table, waiting for Luke to emerge from the bathroom. She took a sip and opened the box, shuddering at the sight of "Field of Dreams". She had been forced to watch the movie once before and the ending would probably not be the best idea for Luke on this particular day. Shoving the DVD under the bed, praying that Luke wouldn't find it, she sifted through the rest of the box. "The Natural" seemed like an appropriate choice. The junk food that surrounded it was mainly for her, but she hoped the Nutri-Grain bars underneath would be an acceptable substitute for Luke.

When Luke emerged from the bathroom with only a towel draped over his bare shoulder and a pair of blue jeans, Lorelai resisted the urge to tackle him. She instead smiled and cleared her throat. "Hi there," she said, breaking the silence.

Luke jumped, startled at the sound of Lorelai's voice. "Jesus, Lorelai, you scared the hell out of me."

She cringed. "Sorry, hon. I didn't mean to scare you. Are you doing okay?"

"Okay, ground rule for today? Don't ask me if I'm okay again. I may be in a funk, but I'm not broken," Luke replied.

"Got it. Come sit. I have a plan for today if you choose to be a part of it," she insisted.

Luke walked over to the bed, sitting next to Lorelai, who produced the box and the contents of it.

"I figured that we can watch a couple of movies today, of your choosing. We don't even have to go downstairs if we can help it. Just sit here and enjoy each other. If you feel up to talking, if you need to talk, if you need to do whatever, your plans are priority. So basically, it's up to you. We can just sit here and have some mind numbing entertainment for the day if that's what you're okay with."

"That's… nice of you," he said, hesitating slightly.

She gave him a soft smile. "I mean, if you want to wallow all day, that's fine too, everyone has their thing, but I just wanted to see if I could try to help. I hate feeling helpless and I'm sure you feel the helpless feeling about a thousand times worse than I do. So, your call."

"Thank you," Luke said, leaning in for a kiss. He pulled back and motioned toward the box. "What's in there?"

"Oh, you know, Robert Redford gets shot by a psychopath, still goes on to play baseball as a really old rookie?"

Luke looked at Lorelai. "You got 'The Natural'?" he confirmed.

"You know your stuff," she said, crawling across the bed and placing the DVD into the player. She fell back onto the pillows. "You sure you're up for this?"

"This is something my dad would have wanted," Luke said, wrapping his arm around Lorelai. She grabbed the remote control and turned up the volume, trying to follow the plot with the baseball jargon. Before long, she spotted Luke staring at her through her peripheral vision. She turned and laughed. "Do I have something on my face?"

He shook his head. "No, sorry, I uh, got… distracted."

"Okay, horsey, blinders. Or should I start calling you 'Wonderboy' now because of the bat?"

"Shut up and watch the movie," Luke insisted.

She settled back onto the pillows and started to get back into the movie. She tried to keep from laughing when she noticed Luke staring at her again. "What is it, Wonderboy?"

"Marry me," Luke whispered.

Lorelai paused the movie, turning to face Luke. "What? Luke…"

"Oh, jeez," Luke hissed.

"Did you just…"

"Apparently. I didn't intend to… you know, just… come out with it like that, but I… I should get down on one knee and ask that again, that wasn't right. I didn't want to just blurt it out like a madman who has no control over his sappy side," he ranted.

Lorelai could only smile, listening to him rant.

"I wanted to take you somewhere really nice, you know, to do it right. And here I am, being a stupid idiot, just coming out with it like that. What the hell is wrong with me?"

"Luke," Lorelai interrupted. "Yes."

"How could you say 'yes' to such a pathetic proposal. I did that because… that…"

She leaned in and kissed him. He pulled back and cleared his throat.

"Did I just… ruin that moment?"

Lorelai laughed. "Almost. Just ask me again."

"Lorelai, will you marry me?" Luke repeated.

She nodded. "Yes."

"I have the ring, I should have gotten it before I did it the second time," Luke grumbled, sliding off the bed and heading downstairs before Lorelai grabbed his arm.

"Hey, not so fast, Wonderboy," she said, pulling him back toward the bed. "So not important."

"It's not?"

She shook her head. "Later."

"Well, I…"

"Shut up already, won't you? I'm trying to make you feel loved today, okay? Come here," she said, her voice lowered to a whisper.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

She rolled her eyes. "Making sure you know you're loved," she said, tugging at the waist of his jeans.


	21. Lazy Sunday

The phone vibrating on the end table interrupted Lorelai's deep sleep. Clumsily, she reached over for the phone, without bothering to see who it was, and pulled it open.

"Hello?" she mumbled.

"Mom, did I wake you? I am so sorry!" Rory said.

Lorelai straightened up and turned over to see that Luke had already left for work. She was glad he bounced back so quickly from the day before. "It's all right, sweets, I needed to get up anyway. I miss you, kid, how are you?"

Rory giggled. "You sound so goofy when you first wake up. And I'm fine."

"I think the fact that Jess showed up here says 'not fine' to me," Lorelai said, pulling the covers up to her waist.

Rory sighed. "Okay. I've been, you know, a little homesick, and I've had a hard time adjusting to being on the move constantly. I like the writing aspect of my job, but I figured that if I wasn't happy with all of the aspects of my job, I shouldn't stay. So I thought about talking to you first. But then I realized that putting you through the separation when I wasn't sure about my job wasn't right."

"Rory, sweets, you had no idea what the job would be like," Lorelai said in an understanding tone. "This was something you wanted to experience, and I would never want you to feel guilty for this wonderful opportunity you were given. "

"Mom, if I would have been thinking rationally, of course I would have called you to talk about it. I called Luke, then I didn't want to bug Luke again, so I called the mini Luke we know as Jess. We had dinner, and Jess told me to be up front with you, which of course now I'm kicking myself for not doing," Rory spat out, sounding angry at herself.

"Sweets," Lorelai interrupted. "Kicking yourself with cute shoes on doesn't mean kicking yourself is still an option, okay? You're going to get bruises the size of Alaska on your leg and then you'll just feel more guilty. So if you still have to kick yourself, do it with slippers on."

"Very funny," Rory replied. "So this is the stuff I should have told you when I first started getting upset. Mom, I miss home. I'm not happy here. I love the idea of the job, but the travelling is getting to be too much. I'd love to travel, but living out of a suitcase is not an extreme I'd like to start out at."

Lorelai picked at a string on the comforter as Rory poured her heart out to her. "I support you in whatever you do, you know that, right?"

"That's why I should have come to you, you make me feel so much better about everything," Rory replied. "Oh, I forgot to ask, how's Luke? You know, after yesterday?"

"He recovers quickly," Lorelai replied, glancing down at Paul Anka, who was still sleeping at the foot of the bed.

"That's a vague answer if I've ever heard one before," Rory snorted.

Lorelai smiled. "Rory, Luke and I are getting married."

There was a pause on the other end until Lorelai heard a faint "finally" coming from the other end.

"What was that?" Lorelai asked, pulling the hair elastic out of her hair.

"I said, FINALLY," Rory replied. "God, you guys went so slow this time, I honestly thought you would forever be Farrah and Ryan, just existing together without a rhyme or reason."

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Come on, kid, you know I want a real wedding. Which you're coming home for," she insisted.

"I wouldn't miss it even if Obama had a thrilling victory," Rory replied. "Congratulations, Mom, I'm so happy for you."

"Thanks, kid," Lorelai replied. "So enough about me."

"Enough about you? We're just getting started, Mom. I rant, you tell me you're engaged, and then you try to make the conversation Rory-centric again? Not like you," Rory replied, feigning frustration.

"You know, I like the length of this conversation. It makes me feel like you're less far away, you know, like you're at Yale or something," she continued.

Rory laughed. "Mom, I hate to break it to you, but I'm in another state now."

"Shh!" Lorelai hissed. "Don't let me remember that. You're just really busy, that's all. You're here in Connecticut, being busy with other busy people, doing things that keep you busy. Okay, so busy is a really, really weird word."

"Mom," Rory interjected. "Wow, that was…"

"Pretty dumb," Lorelai said, laughing. "I've always thought that 'busy' was weird, but the more I said it out loud, the more I realized it was the dumbest word ever."

"No more so than fork," Rory replied.

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "We're going to have to pull out a dictionary again and have a word war."

"I miss the word wars!" Rory gushed. "That's how I learned the word scallywag!"

"Because opening the dictionary, pointing to a random word, and saying 'you are a scallywag' and reading the definition is totally an insult," Lorelai teased.

Rory laughed. "But Mom, that's how I learned half of my vocabulary today."

"I remember when I ended up calling you an arthropod, you cried for an hour," Lorelai recalled.

"I have no idea what I thought you said, but I remember thinking you were so serious," Rory said, laughing. "I'm going to get you back for that one."

"You can try," Lorelai said, waving to Luke as he walked into the bedroom and toward the bathroom.

"Oh, I will," Rory replied in a determined tone.

Lorelai smiled. "So, uh, you're okay with the situation?"

"Of course," Rory replied. "Open arms. Insert cheesy Creed song here."

"You listen to Creed?" Lorelai said, snorting.

"Okay, I don't, but Tim does," Rory admitted.

Lorelai scratched her head. "Tim's hot guy from Hartford? Have you two officially started dating yet?"

Rory rolled her eyes. "I think he wants to ask me out, but he's afraid of rejection."

"Rory, what have I always taught you to do when this happens?" Lorelai said, pretending to be shocked.

"The hair flip, of course," Rory said, laughing. "We've gone out for coffee a few times, but it's nothing major. I think he's shy."

"Well you'll bring him out of his shell," Lorelai replied. "He's a lucky guy."

Rory sighed. "It's nothing serious, I told you!"

"Uh-huh. And Paula Abdul isn't slowly falling off her rocker."

"Fine, you believe that you want," Rory insisted. "I'm going to check over some notes. It was nice talking to you and I'll call you later."

"Deal," Lorelai said. "Love you sweets."

"Love you too, Mom."

Lorelai shut the phone and smiled as Luke emerged from the bathroom. "Hey, you. I thought you were at the diner."

"I took another day off. This is my normal day off."

"Well then what were you doing gallivanting all around Stars Hollow without a lovely fiancée on your arm?" Lorelai teased.

Luke sat next to her, pulling a ring from the pocket of his green jacket. She couldn't figure out how to react when she saw it. He put the ring on her finger and she took a deep breath. She looked down at the simple gold band, and turned her hand a little to take in the rest of the ring. Grinning, she turned to Luke. It was the most gorgeous ring she had ever seen, with four diamonds set on each side of the band, and one diamond in the center.

"How you pried open my diary and read exactly what my dream ring would look like, I will never know."

"It was my mother's," Luke said.

Lorelai turned to Luke, shaking her head. "I can't take your mom's ring."

"Why not? She would have insisted that I give it to you anyway," Luke said with a laugh. "Plus this one's been in the family for like, eons."

"Eons? It won't self destruct?" she said with a giggle.

Luke rolled his eyes. "You're crazy."

"Thank you," she said, giving him a kiss. "That's sweet. I love it."

"Was that Rory on the phone?" he asked.

She nodded. "The one and only. She's so happy."

"Good," Luke said. "Are you happy?"

Lorelai playfully hit Luke's shoulder. "Are you kidding me? Beyond happy."

"Okay," Luke replied. "Thanks for yesterday."

She grinned. "No, thank you." She moved closer to him and leaned her head on his shoulder. She closed her eyes and sighed. "I'm ready for a nap, it's been an eventful morning."

"Afternoon," Luke corrected.

"Well, it's going to be a Lazy Sunday. A la Chris Parnell and Andy Samberg. We'll make cupcakes and watch 'The Chronicles of Narnia' while we rap about ten dollar bills."

"I'm going to make you some lunch," Luke said, watching Lorelai sit up in horror as he exited the room.

"Not without cupcakes, you won't!" she said, chasing him down the stairs.


	22. Snowed In

Lorelai sat on the couch with a blanket and a mug of coffee the next morning, alternating glances between the window and the television. The weather forecast had predicted the storm for about a week, but they hadn't predicted it to be that severe. Lorelai could only laugh… she knew exactly how bad the storm would get. She woke up the next morning to find that she and Luke were officially snowed in. Despite her pleading and begging, Luke had gotten up at his usual ungodly hour to check on the diner, and returned, declaring that Stars Hollow was a ghost town and there was no point in opening Luke's.

Surprisingly, Luke headed back to bed after he returned to the Crap Shack, and immediately fell asleep. Lorelai, of course, was already wide awake, because it was snowing, after all. When Luke came downstairs, she pulled her knees to her chest, making some room for him on the couch.

"Good morning, sunshine," Lorelai said, patting the couch cushion next to her.

Luke absently scratched his shoulder as he sat on the couch. "What are you watching?"

"Cash cab," she replied, taking a sip of her coffee. "Basically what happens is that unsuspecting people are in New York, and they grab a taxi, but little do they know that when they enter the taxi, it's a game show where they have to answer questions for money! Three strikes and they're kicked to the curb!"

"Sounds stupid," Luke grunted.

She gasped. "Cash cab makes me feel really good about myself and my IQ. Rory can kick butt at Jeopardy, but Cash Cab is my show. It makes me feel culturally intelligent."

"You already know more pop culture references than anyone on this planet, why are you watching this?" he asked.

Lorelai placed the blanket over Luke's legs, curling up next to him. "For fun. Mostly to mock the contestants who pick the stupid people on the street for their lifelines. A seventy year old man in a suit would not know the names of the Spice Girls, seriously. Plus one of the red light challenges was to name five U2 albums, and I was able to name all of them. My kind of show, if you ask me."

"You're crazy."

"But you're the one that decided you wanted to marry me," Lorelai replied with a grin, looking down at her engagement ring. "How do you explain that?"

"I wish I could explain, sometimes I question my own sanity," he replied, taking her hand.

She gasped. "You love me and you know it. Don't try to pretend that you're constantly annoyed by my presence."

"I don't pretend that I'm constantly annoyed by your presence," he answered, putting his feet on the coffee table.

She threw the blanket over his bare feet. "You've done it for years, ask anyone in this town. They'd all say the exact same thing. You pretend I'm annoying while you secretly want to be snowed in with me like you are now."

"Well now we're getting married, I'm obviously not so annoyed by the fact that you're around," he said, leaning in to kiss her.

She smiled. They were having one of those 'moments'. It was one of those times that she thoroughly realized how lucky she was to have Luke in her life again, and to be engaged to him once again. For a few moments, neither said a word, but just stayed under the blanket on the couch watching TV. She turned to look at him. He was in a t-shirt and sweatpants, his hair wasn't brushed, and he was just waking up. There was something about being around Luke when he let his guard down that made her smile.

"So, about that 'getting married' thing," she said, breaking the silence.

"What about it?" he asked, scratching his head and letting out a yawn.

"What would you think about doing it sooner rather than later? I mean, this isn't going to take much planning."

Luke straightened up. "Sooner rather than later?"

"You know, so we can avoid the risk of making it a huge production? I'm sure Reverend Skinner could fit us in sometime soon. Plus with Rory coming home for a few weeks in January and such, it would be the perfect time, because we really don't know when she'll be back again. I don't know, it's just a thought," she said. "I don't even know if April can fly out, or what's going on with that, but it was just something I had in mind."

"Is that what you want?" Luke asked.

"I don't really care, I just figured that way we can try to have everyone here at the same time. It's not a big deal if it doesn't work out. The important thing is that we're getting married, right?"

He nodded. "If that's what you want, then I'm all for it."

"What a selfless sap," Lorelai teased, playing with the sleeve of Luke's t-shirt. "You're stuck with me today, you know that? We're snowed in."

"It's snowed that much already?" Luke asked, craning his neck to look out the window.

Lorelai laughed. "Yes, it has. Unless you want to make the front porch an igloo, with a secret escape tunnel to Florida, it's you and me."

"It's been awhile since Stars Hollow got snowed in, hasn't it?"

She moved closer to Luke. "It has. Last time we got snowed in this badly Rory stayed at my parents' house."

"And you were with Max," Luke added.

"And you were jealous, you big green eyed monster," Lorelai shot back, poking Luke as she recalled the night.

"That's the best you can do?" Luke replied. "Green eyed monster?"

"Snow throws off my references, I get too preoccupied that it's snowing and I can't think of a good pop culture comparison," she explained, patting his knee. "What do you do when you get snowed in?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, watch TV, read a book, maybe something productive like cleaning."

She rolled her eyes, pulling the blanket closer to her shoulders. "Why would you clean?"

"Well, what else can you do when you're snowed in and you live in an apartment above the diner?" he replied. "And you're stealing my half of the blanket."

"I am not," Lorelai shot back. "You have plenty of blanket to keep you warm. Unlike me, every single night."

"Lorelai," Luke replied. "You're as close to me as humanly possible every single night. You obviously have the blanket coverage if you say I steal them from you."

She rolled her eyes, jerking some of the blanket in her direction. She wrapped it around her, leaning back against the couch to hold it in place. "There we go," she said with a smile.

"Now you're taking all of the blanket," Luke said, pointing to his feet. "See?"

She looked down to see that only one of Luke's feet was covered by the blanket. She leaned forward, pulling some of the blanket out from behind her and letting Luke pull it over his feet. "There you go, you big baby."

"So what are the plans for today?" Luke asked.

Lorelai turned to him, confused. "What do you mean, plans? I have no plans. Have you looked outside?"

"Don't you have some sort of 'snowed in' ritual?" he asked.

She shook her head. "I usually play it by ear. But you're lucky that you're snowed in with me because I have a few ideas of what we could do."

"Like?"

She raised her eyebrows and discarded the blanket. "Lots of stuff. Plan A. Get Luke into bed," she said, leaning in to kiss him. She stood up from the couch and waited at the foot of the staircase.

"Mission accomplished," he replied, following Lorelai upstairs.


	23. Escape From Emily Land

**A/N: Thanks for sticking with this story, I'm glad you're enjoying it as much as I am. And thanks to R.M. Jackson for the beta job and for opening my eyes to the wonders of the semi colon; I hope you'll forgive my prejudices against it in the past. (I probably didn't even use it right, but what the heck?) Reviews are like backstage passes to a Celine Dion concert for Michel.  
**

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"Are you sure an invitation in the mail wouldn't be appropriate?" Lorelai asked, rubbing her arms up and down the sleeves of her jacket as she stood on the front porch of the Gilmore mansion.

Luke reached over and rang the doorbell. "I thought you and your parents were on better terms now," he said, putting his hands in his pockets.

She shrugged. "Sure, but that doesn't mean this isn't going to be a nag-fest. 'Lorelai, why are you choosing that type of flower? The color of that table accessory is horrendous, who ordered that?' I mean, seriously, Luke, I can only deal with so much Emily at once. My father doesn't give a rat's ass about the accessories. He's already run several background checks on you and you came up clean, so he can't object."

"You're forgetting that you and your mother came to an agreement, Lorelai," Luke grumbled. "Don't judge her before she reacts, all right?"

Lorelai sighed, handing the maid her coat. "Fine, but if I'm right I expect you to grovel for forgiveness."

"Duly noted," Luke replied, handing the maid his coat and following Lorelai into the living room where Emily and Richard were seated.

"Hi Mom, Dad," Lorelai said with a nervous smile.

Richard stood up and made his way to the drink cart. "Hello, Lorelai, Luke. Your usual beverages, I assume?"

"Yes, please, thanks," Lorelai said, seating herself on the couch across from Emily. She crossed her legs, looked over to Luke, and accepted her drink from Richard. She took a long sip and placed it on the coaster.

"Your father and I were just discussing the latest books that have come out; a lot of them seem to have huge followings. Do you read for pleasure, Lorelai?"

Lorelai glanced at Luke. "I think I have other ideas that fall into that category," she muttered, earning a glare from Luke. She straightened up, folded her hands in her lap, and shrugged. "I try to read," she said, directing her comment to Emily and Richard. "But the inn keeps me really busy. I've had Rory make me a recommendations list for when things get less hectic."

"That's a wonderful idea, I should call Rory and ask her to do the same for me," Emily gushed. "It's so rare that I find a good book to read nowadays. Do you think she'll have suggestions for me?"

"Emily, Rory is on her way to having more books than the library of congress," Richard reasoned. "I have no doubts that she will be able to point you in the right direction."

"How about you, Luke, do you read?" Emily asked, taking a sip of her drink.

Luke cleared his throat, sitting up straight. "April tried to get me to re-read 'Lord of the Flies' but I'm not getting very far. I started to read during the times when there aren't any people in the diner, but the diner's been full almost every minute of the day since tourist season started. People like the snowfall in Stars Hollow."

"Every season is tourist season, Luke," Lorelai teased. "Taylor just pretends there's a specific time of the year that attracts them more."

"Taylor is your mayor?" Richard asked.

Lorelai shook her head. "Taylor is our town selectman. Basically a power hungry rule book toting law enforcer who lives for town meetings and issuing permits."

"Sounds quite colorful, if you ask me," Richard said.

Lorelai looked at her half empty drink and let out a sigh. The chitchat didn't seem like it was about to end anytime soon, and she was ready to get the news out in the open. Letting it sit and fester in her brain was going to do her no good. She took a deep breath and waited for a momentary pause in the conversation before starting to spill the beans. "Mom, Dad, there's something I want to talk to you about."

Emily put her glass down on the table and her expression changed drastically. The look she gave Lorelai made Lorelai's heart beat faster and faster, and caused her to second guess what she was about to do.

Lorelai bit her lower lip and took Luke's hand. "Luke and I are getting married," she said, plastering on a nervous smile and waiting for a response.

She watched as Emily's expression softened. "That's what you were going to tell us?" Emily asked.

"What did you think I was going to tell you?" Lorelai replied, raising her eyebrows.

Emily shrugged. "I don't know, Lorelai, it could have been about a million different things that could have put our lives into a tailspin. You looked like a ghost you were so pale."

"I was? I did? Really?" Lorelai asked, turning to Luke for confirmation. "You didn't call Ghostbusters?"

"Lorelai, honestly, this is a wonderful moment that you just ruined by your silly reference," Emily insisted.

"Sorry," Lorelai said, taking a deep breath. "Luke and I are engaged."

Richard stood up and extended his hand in congratulations to Luke. "This is wonderful news, congratulations," he said. "Isn't this wonderful, Emily?"

Luke returned the gesture. "Thank you."

Emily smiled. "Why, yes, this is wonderful, we're thrilled. Lorelai, have you thought at all about planning the event or the reception?"

"That didn't take long at all, what a smooth transition," Lorelai muttered under her breath, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and taking a long sip of her drink. "Bits and pieces. We just want to make sure that everyone we want to be there can be there. That's our main concern at this point."

"Honestly, Lorelai, you're so nonchalant about this," Emily started. "You know that florists and other services associated with weddings and big events like this are often booked years in advance."

Lorelai cleared her throat. "Uh, Mom?"

"And this is your wedding, you can't just sit back and allow fate to decide these things, or settle for the leftovers," Emily continued.

"Mom," Lorelai interrupted, more forcefully.

Emily ignored her daughter and continued. "What if the flowers die? What if…"

"Mother!" Lorelai interjected, her voice startling Emily.

"What on earth could be so important to say that you had to interrupt me, Lorelai?" Emily asked, crossing her arms. "Say it."

Glancing at Luke, whose eyes were wide with surprise and most likely nerves, Lorelai nervously played with her hands in her lap. "Would you please help me in planning the wedding when we're more… sure of the details?"

Emily stared at her daughter for a moment. Lorelai watched as Emily looked from her drink to Lorelai, and then to Richard, before picking up her drink and taking a sip. "Why, yes, that sounds lovely, thank you for the invitation."

Lorelai could hear Luke's sigh of relief as the tension in the room started to disappear. When the maid entered the room and announced that dinner was ready, Lorelai followed Emily into the dining room. Luke pulled Lorelai's chair out for her, and she sat down, glancing at Emily who was seated across the table. The two exchanged glances and Lorelai flashed a smile. When Emily returned the expression, Lorelai quickly reached for her silverware to find her napkin to place on her lap.

Luke was right, things were getting better, but she could only take so much 'happy Emily' in one day. She politely thanked the maid as her food was served, and quickly cut into the piece of steak, grateful to have escaped from Emily Land unharmed.


	24. The Watched Pot Boils

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who's been keeping track of this story so far! Your support makes me melt like a Popsicle on the 4th of July. Thank you to R.M. Jackson for the beta, I owe you a Robot Chicken screening. Reviews are like notes in the margins...**

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Lorelai sat at the kitchen table, flipping through a magazine. She rested her chin in her right hand as she flipped through the pages with her left hand, letting out the occasional sigh. She'd read the magazine three times already, but this time, she was just in need of something to look at. Lorelai was looking at a lipstick ad when the refrigerator door slammed. Putting her hand over her heart, she turned to face Luke.

"Aw, Luke, I'm sure he didn't mean it," Lorelai teased.

"You're doing it again," Luke grumbled.

"Doing what?" Lorelai placed a strand of her brown hair behind her ear and bit her lower lip in anticipation of an answer.

Luke walked over to the sink and filled a pot full of water. "The foot spazzing thing."

"What foot spazzing thing?"

He pointed to Lorelai's foot, which was shaking back and forth underneath the table. "That thing. All I hear is your shoelaces hitting your shoe and it's annoying as hell."

Lorelai raised her eyebrows. "Last I checked, you weren't the shoe police, but I'll try to keep it to a minimum. I don't realize I do it. Rory flips the pages on the unread half of her book, I have a foot twitch, you do that thing with your hat. We all have one of those 'things'."

"What hat thing?" Luke asked.

She smiled, pushing in her chair and approaching Luke at the stove. "Exactly." She leaned against the counter, watching as Luke put the pot of water on the stove.

"What are you doing?"

She shrugged, crossing her arms and turning to face the stove. "I heard that a watched pot never boils. The laws of physics pretty much say that it has to boil… and now I'm caught between believing science or the ever powerful 'they'."

"The water will eventually boil, it just takes awhile," Luke insisted, opening the cabinet and pulling out a small container of spices. "The saying is there because people like you will whine about how long it's taking if you sit and watch. So they tell you that so you won't be disappointed."

Lorelai sighed, turning her attention to the pot of water for a few moments before giving up. She sat at the table again, watching as Luke placed the chicken in the oven. "So, I was thinking."

"That's scary," Luke grunted in response.

She giggled, pulling out a chair from the other side of the table and letting it drag across the wood floor. Patting the seat as if to insist that Luke sit with her, she turned to Luke and pouted. He finally consented, walking over to the chair and tapping his fingers together.

"Have you ever kept something inside so long that it keeps you up at night? And then finally it gets to that point where it's telling you to let it go or you're never going to get a good night's sleep again?"

Luke cleared his throat. "Something's keeping you up at night?"

She shrugged. "It's probably no big deal. I'm probably overreacting. I mean, I'm sleeping fine," she said, trying to make her random outburst less pressing.

He looked down at the floor and the back at Lorelai. He got up to check the pot of water, and started putting breadcrumbs on the chicken. He said nothing as he worked, and Lorelai wondered if this was going to turn into an argument. She put her head in her hands and took a deep breath. They should have talked about it sooner.

"I was thinking," she repeated, crossing her legs and interlacing her fingers around her right kneecap. "That you and I have to have a chat. I would have talked to you about it earlier, but the whole engagement thing threw me off a little."

"What do we need to talk about?" he queried, raising his eyebrows as he washed his hands. He dried them on his jeans and took a seat once again, leaning back in the chair and crossing his arms.

She gave him a smile. "No need to get defensive, we're just having a talk. You're not in trouble. I just wanted to, you know, have a discussion. I know we kind of… sidestepped it last time."

Luke sighed. "Is this about the false alarm on the night the inn's smoke detectors went off?"

"It's important to talk about, Luke," Lorelai said, feeling the twinge in her gut that signaled the need to calm down. After all, she was the one who initiated the conversation, not him. She told him he wasn't in trouble. She uncrossed her legs and put her hair behind her ears. "I just… don't think we really made a decision in the having kids department and I feel like it's important to discuss. Now that we're getting married, I keep thinking that we should talk about it before it gets to this huge… before we fight about it."

"Lorelai," Luke started, "we already had this discussion."

She shook her head. "But that was last time, before… everything with the… breakup," she said in a calm, yet serious, tone. "I mean, I feel like we both didn't bring it up for our own reasons, and now that we're getting married, it's something we have to address. We just got back under the covers and slept it off, Luke, and that was so, so wrong."

Luke turned to check boiling water. "This has been something you've been stressed out about? Seriously?"

"Yes," she said, letting out a huge sigh. "I love you, Luke, and I didn't want to bring it up again, because I didn't want to fight about it."

"If it was bothering you, why didn't you say something?"

"You know how I deal with issues. I sweep them under the rug and don't look at them until I need a new rug," she said with a wave of her hand. "Now I need a new rug."

"Well, let's talk then," Luke said, taking off his baseball cap and scratching his head.

Lorelai smiled, pointing to him. "That's your thing."

"Jeez, Lorelai, this really isn't the time," Luke grunted.

She nodded. "Right. Okay, so I guess I should just jump right in. Were you… upset that I wasn't pregnant?"

"I don't know," Luke answered, getting up to put some pasta in the now boiling water. "I think that if it happened, I would have been okay with it, because I was still in the 'kids would be good' stage from our last discussion."

"I think we weren't ready, but I think we could be," she replied, taking a deep breath. "What do you think?"

"I thought that I just told you what I thought," Luke answered.

Lorelai gave a definitive nod and let out a nervous laugh. She took the magazine off the table and rolled it up. "As confusing as that was… I get it. Okay, well, that's… good. Wow, that's like a sumo wrestler off my back."

"Seriously, Lorelai," Luke said, sitting down next to her once again. "You can't just bottle this stuff up."

She snorted. "Same goes to you, mister."

"Okay, fine, so I'm not the world's best conversationalist," he said, taking her hand. "But we can't just… not talk."

"I hate not talking," Lorelai said.

"That's quite obvious," he replied, leaning in for a kiss. He pulled back and shot out of the chair when he heard the front door open.

"Mom? Luke?"

Lorelai ran into the living room to find Rory with all of her luggage. She wrapped her daughter in a hug. It was great to have Rory home, but unexpected. Something was up. Watching as Rory greeted Luke, Lorelai put her hands in the pockets of her jeans. She was getting a bad feeling before Rory had even unpacked her bags.

Maybe she was overreacting. She smiled, hugging Rory again. Lorelai just needed to enjoy having Rory home for a little while; she could question later.


	25. Of Karate and Hands on Learning

**A/N: Thank you all for your patience in my sporadic updating! I love you for it. And I need to thank R.M. Jackson for pointing out the stupid mistakes I made in this one, because I'd have laughed at myself if I'd posted it and let you all read it... I'd be humiliated that I missed it, and that I let you read it! So, Reggie, thanks for saving me from the double pathetic! Reviews are like free french fries at Luke's (or are they wink-winkers?)**

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Rory grabbed another handful of popcorn and absently placed a few pieces in her mouth while her eyes remained on the television. Lorelai sporadically reached for the bowl of popcorn, but she couldn't concentrate on the movie. She wanted Rory to explain why she was home. Lorelai knew it was for a reason other than a random surprise, she could tell by the way Rory was acting. She felt guilty for questioning Rory's motives for coming home, and tried to tell herself to ignore her gut instinct and hope Rory was just visiting, but thoughts of a career move kept entering Lorelai's mind.

Maybe she was wrong. Maybe Rory just needed to be home for a little while, for one reason or another. She rolled the edge of the bag of Red Vines as far as it would go and then released it before repeating the process. Lorelai had no idea what was going on with Rory, and it was killing her.

She watched as Rory continued to focus on the television without a word uttered. Lorelai was getting antsy. Finally, Lorelai grabbed the remote control and paused the movie. She brought her knees to her chest and turned to face Rory. "So you want to tell me what's going on with this visit home?"

Rory gave a nervous smile. "You knew it wasn't just for a visit, huh?"

"Sweets, you have many gifts. Lying is not one of them, unfortunately."

Rory toyed with the end of the throw pillow on the couch, turning to see Lorelai better. Lorelai pushed herself against the arm rest to allow Rory more room to get comfortable. She made sure she was calm on the outside and on the inside, because whatever it was that was bothering Rory was obviously a big deal; Rory seemed nervous to talk about it.

"I, uh, resigned," Rory said softly, looking down at her chipped toenail polish.

"You resigned?" Lorelai repeated. She was shocked.

Rory nodded. "I resigned. I wrote an article on Senator Obama's chance of clinching the nomination. They thought it was a poor reflection on him, and asked me to change it. Mom, I can't change the facts. I worded them differently, but they still didn't like it. I told them that they were a journalistic disaster to the level of Pompeii and the Titanic if they wanted me to make up stories. Then, after I collected myself, I wrote a letter of resignation and asked for my vacation time before I trained my replacement."

Lorelai could sense Rory's disappointment. She opened her arms and Rory leaned over. The look on Rory's face was crushing. Lorelai stroked her daughter's straight brown hair as she listened to her rant.

"I mean, that's not fair. I write facts, Mom. I don't write what's not true. I could get sued for that. I could lose my job. But apparently, this time, I lost a good opportunity for doing what's right."

"You did the right thing, sweets," Lorelai insisted. "This will all be okay. You have a degree from Yale. Someone's going to want you on their staff."

Rory sat up. "I've already applied at the Boston Globe, the ProJo again, and the Chicago Sun Times. I'm thinking about the Courant, but I'm not sure. I'm so sorry, Mom. I shouldn't have gone away unless I was sure that this was what I wanted. Things were working out for a long time, but I guess it just went downhill as they kept asking me to manipulate my work."

"You don't have to justify this with me, Rory. You're an adult, you make your own decisions. I trust you."

Rory sighed. She looked at Lorelai and continued her catharsis of frustration. "I don't know, Mom, I mean, I knew this wasn't for me. But I swore I'd finish what I started and stick it out, for your sake, for my sanity, and because I wanted this on my résumé."

Lorelai leaned her elbow against the back of the couch and rested her head in the palm of her hand as she listened. She smiled at Rory, trying to alleviate her daughter's concerns. "I understand."

"You do?"

"You did what you had to. You stood up for what you believed was right. Plus, I'd rather not see the silver bracelets they call handcuffs on your wrists for writing stuff that wasn't true."

Rory let out a soft giggle and ran her hand through her hair. She glanced at Luke, who was still in the kitchen. "Is he okay in there?"

Lorelai smiled as she looked in the kitchen. Luke was doing the dishes from dinner. She loved how Luke gave her some alone time with Rory, but knew when to include himself in conversations. Lorelai was thrilled that Luke was becoming more comfortable with the entire situation. Turning back to Rory, she shrugged. "We were having a serious chat when you walked in. It's no big deal, really. He's just stepping back and letting me interrogate you. We'll have to pick it up later."

"A serious chat? Is everything okay?"

"Oh, everything's fine. It was the, uh, reproduction talk," Lorelai said, hesitating for a moment before finishing her sentence.

"Did you use the 'stork' bit or the 'when two people love each other very much' line?"

Lorelai snorted. "Luke's actually more of a "hands on" type of learner himself, so I figured…"

"Oh, mom, GROSS!" Rory said as her hands instinctively flew to her ears to block out the unwanted information being offered by her mother.

Reaching over to move Rory's hands, Lorelai shook her head and laughed. "I won't say anything else, I promise."

Rory placed her hands back on her ears once more, covering them and making loud noises to avoid hearing anything that Lorelai said. "La la la! I don't believe you! La la la!"

"What do you want me to do, swear on the bible?"

"Do we even have a bible in this house?" Rory asked, scrunching up her nose as part of her thought process.

Lorelai laughed. "Mrs. Kim got us one as a housewarming gift. I have it in a box somewhere."

Rory nodded. "So anyway. You guys had the reproduction talk? What did you decide?"

"It was an extremely tentative yes, but we didn't get around to going deeper into the conversation."

"Why not?"

Lorelai laughed. "You came through the door and scared the hell out of Luke. He swore that you were Kirk, practicing his karate skills."

"Kirk does karate?"

"He's terrible at it. He's been trying to chop anything made of wood in half. He's broken his hand already."

"Poor Kirk," Rory said. "I'm sorry I interrupted your talk, I should go unpack and let you guys talk some more."

Lorelai put her hand on Rory's shoulder to prevent her from getting up. "I think we're kind of in an agreement. I don't think there was really any doubt, I just think he wanted confirmation."

"This is something you guys need to plan, though," Rory insisted. "It takes lots of planning… and I'm officially out of this conversation now, because it's taking a very disgusting turn."

"We'll talk eventually," Lorelai replied. "We're just glad everything's okay, and we're also glad that you weren't Kirk."

"You said 'we'," Rory pointed out.

"So?"

"I like that you're starting to think as a unit. It's nice," she said.

Lorelai smiled. "Thanks, sweets." She reached over and pressed the 'play' button on the remote control. She wasn't going to let the 'reproduction' talk linger, but tonight wasn't the night to finish it. Her mind was lost in thoughts of Rory going far away again. She grabbed a Red Vine and chewed it as she thought. Was secretly hoping that papers located more than a few hours from Stars Hollow were not hiring… wrong?


End file.
